Department of Health and Social Care

Haemochromatosis: Medical Treatments

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence process of developing clinical guidelines for the treatment of genetic haemochromatosis in adults to restart.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is taking to ensure that patient voice is fully represented and engaged throughout the process of developing clinical guidelines for the treatment of genetic haemochromatosis in adults.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as an independent body made the decision in May 2023 to pause the development of guidance for haemochromatosis.As work to establish the Prioritisation Board progresses during this year, more information on timescales will become available.NICE consults a wide range of interested parties in the development of its guidelines, including patient groups.

Integrated Care Boards and NHS England: Meetings

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) NHS England and (b) integrated care boards on (i) patient and (ii) public involvement in decision-making structures in the period since July 2021.

Will Quince: The Department regularly meets with NHS England and representatives of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to discuss a range of issues, including patient and public participation.

Department of Health and Social Care: Equality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were employed by his Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Will Quince: As of 31 December 2021, the Department employed five full-time equivalent (FTE) on a permanent basis working on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity, supplemented by 6.8 FTE on a temporary basis, 11.8 FTE in total. These roles ensured that the Department’s statutory obligations were met and supported direct delivery of the Civil Service and departmental inclusion strategy.In 2022, to reflect both the evolving agenda and as part of seeking efficiencies, the Department reviewed its overall resource requirements. Therefore, as of 31 December 2022, two FTE were employed on a permanent basis working on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity, supported by four FTE on a temporary basis, (six FTE in total). These roles ensure that the Department’s statutory obligations are met, support direct delivery of the Civil Service and departmental inclusion strategy and now have wider responsibilities delivering organisational development, engagement and leadership activities.The figures exclude employees of executive agencies and non-ministerial departments, as that data is not held centrally.

Cystic Fibrosis: Antimicrobials

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to develop future antimicrobial treatments for cystic fibrosis infections.

Will Quince: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Since 2015, NIHR has committed over £3.7 million of research programme funding into developing and improving cystic fibrosis treatments. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the development of antimicrobial treatments for cystic fibrosis.The Government also funded Medicines Discovery Catapult has joined forces with Cystic Fibrosis Trust to form the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Syndicate in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). The Cystic Fibrosis Antimicrobial Resistance Syndicate aims to address unmet patient needs by linking people with cystic fibrosis with leading experts across industry, academia and the National Health Service. Together, this cross-sector consortium is identifying and tackling drug discovery hurdles to accelerate the development of cystic fibrosis antimicrobials and infection diagnostics.

NHS: Innovation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff his Department employs in the NHS Transformation Directorate; how many full time equivalent staff are employed to work on NHS innovation; and what proportion of these are employed centrally by NHS England.

Will Quince: There are 131 staff in the NHS Transformation Directorate in the Department for Health and Social Care. There are 4,108 staff in the NHS Transformation Directorate in NHS England. Numerous teams focus on NHS innovation as part of the ambition to digitise, connect and transform the NHS.

Palliative Care: Children and Young People

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which integrated care boards were granted match funding for children and young people’s palliative and end-of-life care from NHS England in the 2022-23 financial year; and how much did each integrated care board receive in that year.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Diets: Health Education

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of introducing stronger regulations for businesses that promote very low-calorie diets.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of implications for his policies of rises in the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Preventive Medicine

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the adequacy of processes to expedite new preventative treatments for covid-19 in order to support people who are at higher risk of ill health through contracting that disease.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent, expert body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE is responsible for the processes it uses in developing its recommendations.New medicines for COVID-19 that are referred to NICE will be evaluated through NICE’s technology appraisal process. NICE aims to publish guidance within 90 days of marketing authorisation being issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency wherever possible and works with stakeholders to align its appraisal timelines with the regulatory process.NICE is developing a new review process to update its recommendations on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments so they can be made available more quickly to patients if they show promise against new variants and are found to be cost-effective. NICE recently ran a four week public consultation on proposals for the new rapid update process, which will apply to recommendations NICE has already published on COVID-19 treatments.

Sports: Health Services

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) number of sports and exercise consultants and (b) access to sports and exercise medicine.

Will Quince: We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the National Health Service for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.The Department and Sport England have delivered the Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme to enable all healthcare professionals to embed the promotion of sport and physical activity into routine care for the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases.

Palliative Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all people with terminal diagnoses have access to palliative care services.

Helen Whately: Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England has actively increased its support to local commissioners to improve the accessibility, quality and sustainability of palliative and end of life care for all. This includes statutory guidance for integrated care boards, service specifications for adults and children and young people and further commissioning specific resources via the FutureNHS Collaborative Platform.In addition, NHS England funded the establishment of seven Palliative and End of Life Care Strategic Clinical Networks to work with integrated care systems to progress and implement sustainable commissioning models for equitable, high-quality services.The Department has had recent discussions with NHS England regarding the importance of transparency of local ICB commissioning and funding of palliative and end of life care.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) quality and (b) safety of imported cannabis-based products for medicinal use; if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: Cannabis based products for medicinal use in humans (CBPMs) is a term that usually designates medicinal products that are not licensed in the United Kingdom. Most CBPMs in use in the UK are unlicensed medicines imported into the Country. Regulation 167 of the Human Medicine Regulations 2012, as amended, allows for medicines without a marketing authorisation, also referred to as a licence, to be supplied under certain circumstances. In the interest of public health, the exemption is narrowly drawn because unlicensed medicines or specials, unlike licensed medicinal products, have not been assessed by the Licensing Authority against the criteria of safety, quality and efficacy.An unlicensed medicine may be supplied following a bona fide unsolicited order and is formulated in accordance with the specific requirements of the prescriber. This means that the quality, safety and efficacy of unlicensed medicines is the direct responsibility of the prescribers responsible for the care of individual patients as they are the ones that determine if these are fit for purpose.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) ensures that any importer of an unlicensed medicinal product into the UK must be suitably licensed to import unlicensed medicines and prior to the importation taking place the importer must notify of their intent to import the unlicensed medicine and provide a set of supportive documentation, which the MHRA will assess to ensure the medicine’s quality and safety. This typically includes the requirement that a medicine has been produced in facilities meeting Good Manufacturing Practice or equivalent recognised quality standards for medicines.

Coronavirus: Contracts

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2023 to Question 176701 on Coronavirus: Contracts, how much funding was provided to each of the contracts that were awarded in response to the covid-19 pandemic.

Will Quince: A table is attached showing the individual current contract values for the majority of the 220 contracts reported as still active. On re-examining our data systems we have concluded that three of the contracts were in fact not active and should not have been included in the previous total of 220 contracts.Individual values for 21 contracts with a total value of £7.8 billion cannot be provided as this is commercially confidential information. The great majority of these contracts by value are concerning the vaccines programme for which much information has been published in the form of Contract Award Notices on Contracts Finder, but the values have been excluded.The remaining contracts within this group are classified as Official Sensitive due to the subject matters which they address.Attachment (docx, 32.6KB)

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the UK in the last five years.

Helen Whately: This information is not held centrally. In England, provision of healthcare for diabetes is the responsibility of NHS England.

Rheumatology

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) Allied Health Professionals entering specialist rheumatology training.

Will Quince: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bootle on 30 May 2023 to Question 185980.

Hospices

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that hospices are able to continue to support patients following recent increases in the cost of living.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of (a) the cost of living crisis and (b) increasing staffing costs on the sustainability of hospice services.

Helen Whately: The Government recognises the importance of palliative and end of life care for patients and those important to them. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would, therefore, be made at a local level.Charities, including hospices, have already benefitted from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which ended on 31 March and provided £7 billion of support. Eligible organisations, including hospices, will continue to get baseline discount support on gas and electricity bills under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices.Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that remain free to set salary rates along with other terms and conditions at a level that reflects the skills and experience of their staff.

Heart Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of people who have been a recipient of a donated heart in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The following table shows the number of people who have been a recipient of a donated heart by a deceased donor in each of the last five years.Organ transplants2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Heart183172159175212

Coeliac Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to mark Coeliac UK’s Awareness Week; and what steps he is taking to (a) improve diagnosis of coeliac disease and (b) support people with long-term health complications associated with untreated coeliac disease.

Helen Whately: Policy colleagues continue to engage with stakeholders on coeliac diseaseIt is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including the diagnosis of coeliac disease.

Rheumatology

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve levels of staff retention of healthcare professionals working in rheumatology services.

Will Quince: Through the National Health Service priorities and operational planning guidance, systems have been asked to refresh their workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise.  The People Promise provides a strong focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive NHS culture by strengthening staff health and wellbeing, promoting equality and diversity, improving leadership and workplace culture and opening up opportunities for flexible working. NHS England is leading work nationally to strengthen retention across the NHS through its NHS retention programme. This includes supporting organisations to deliver best practice interventions in areas such as staff health and wellbeing, flexible working and menopause support in the workplace. A staff retention guide has been updated and includes information on supporting staff at different stages in their career with a focus on induction, reward and recognition. These initiatives apply across all NHS staff groups, including healthcare professionals working in rheumatology services.

Coeliac Disease and Autoimmune Diseases: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to (a) improve the diagnostic landscape for people with (i) coeliac disease and (ii) other autoimmune conditions and (b) reduce the time taken for diagnosis of those diseases from the onset of symptoms; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including the diagnosis of coeliac disease and other autoimmune conditions.To improve the diagnostic landscape of coeliac disease nationally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on the recognition, assessment and management of coeliac disease. NICE promotes its guidance via its website, newsletters and other media.To reduce the time taken for diagnosis of coeliac and autoimmune diseases, we have introduced a network of new Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) across England to deliver additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity. There are 108 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over 4 million additional tests as of May 2023.

Lung Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce lung and respiratory-related deaths in the UK.

Helen Whately: NHS England has established a national respiratory programme to develop a clear approach, in partnership with its partners, to improve outcomes for people with respiratory disease and meet the Long Term Plan ambitions. In addition, the Major Conditions Strategy will cover treatment and prevention for chronic respiratory diseases and seeking input, through our Call for Evidence, from stakeholders, citizens and the NHS to identify actions that will have the most impact.

Active Care Group: Standards

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the performance of the Active Care Group under its NHS contract (a) in general and (b) in relation to Ivetsy Bank Hospital.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department considers the number of previous safeguarding incidents when determining whether to renew contracts with independent mental health providers.

Maria Caulfield: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is working with the Active Care Group and Ivetsey Bank Hospital regarding quality the care and treatment of those using its services. NHS England, as the appropriate contracting authority for specialised services including CAMHS Tier 4 services, is responsible for planning and managing contracts related to those services.

Dermatology: Steroid Drugs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15. February 2022 to Question 105615 on Dermatology: Steroid Drugs, whether he has made a further assessment of the implications for his policies of topical steroid withdrawal reactions; and what steps he is taking to ensure long-term users of steroid based creams are aware of the new warnings in the patient information leaflet.

Will Quince: Following a review in 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has continued to monitor the safety of these products. Topical corticosteroids when used appropriately are safe, effective treatment. The MHRA continues to consult with its experts and is working with charities to increase their safe use. The MHRA is currently reviewing the Patient Safety Leaflet to identify any further improvements.

Pharmacy: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that there is an adequate supply of medication to pharmacies in Enfield North constituency.

Will Quince: The Department regularly holds discussions with stakeholders to ensure continuity of supply of medicines to the National Health Service. We have well-established processes to manage and mitigate medicine supply issues, working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, Devolved Governments and others operating in the supply chain.

Alopecia: Clinical Trials

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for clinical trials for new treatments for Alopecia conditions.

Will Quince: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including alopecia conditions. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital; and what stage has been reached in the approvals process for this project.

Will Quince: The new hospital scheme for the Cancer Research Hospital has received £14.654 million in funding up to the end of 2022/23 financial year. The total individual funding will be subject to a Full Business Case being reviewed and agreed, including by HM Treasury.The scheme is currently at Outline Business Case stage. The Outline Business Case has been received and is in the process of being reviewed, as per the standard business case assurance process.

Drugs: Procurement

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including Gibraltar in future NHS drug procurement policy/NHS drug procurement buying exercises; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The Department and NHS England are assessing the legal and operational implications of accessing the NHS England Commercial Medicines Framework for the procurement of medicines for the British Overseas Territories.

Infectious Diseases

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for pandemic preparedness of mapping the UK’s immunological research capacity.

Will Quince: The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC) has been established to strengthen UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) work in vaccine discovery, development and evaluation, with the aim of strengthening preparedness for future pandemics and other high consequence infectious diseases.Through UKHSA, the Government works on an ongoing basis with academia and industry to understand capacity and capability needs for pandemic preparedness and wider health threats. The UKHSA’s strategic approach to pandemic preparedness includes understanding and regularly reviewing UKHSA’s research capacity.

Radioisotopes: Imports

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the supply of (a) nuclear medications and (b) medical radioisotopes from EU member states.

Will Quince: We are not aware of any supply issues with nuclear medications or medical radioisotopes in the United Kingdom.The Department’s medicine supply team works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when supply issues do arise.

Diseases

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on a coordinated approach to pandemic preparedness.

Maria Caulfield: Whilst no specific discussions have taken place between the Secretary of State and Scottish Government on pandemic preparedness, there is well-established UK-wide working on health security, public health protection and pandemic preparedness across all four United Kingdom nations.The UK’s approach to pandemic preparedness reflects the fact that health policy is devolved and that emergency response and recovery is founded on a principle of subsidiarity. However, various mechanisms are in place to ensure effective coordination across all four UK nations, including devolved Government representation on the cross-Government Pandemic Diseases Capabilities Board (PDCB). PDCB ensures that critical capabilities for pandemic preparedness and response are maintained and developed across all sectors.In addition, the approach to taken to clinical countermeasures, which is a key plank of our preparedness and response capability for a future pandemic, is conducted on a UK-wide basis. Representatives from the Devolved Governments and their agencies sit on the Clinical Countermeasures Board to ensure alignment in our approach to the procurement and stockpiling of countermeasures such as vaccines, medicines, and consumables.More generally, the Common Framework for Public Health Protection and Health Security was agreed by the Four Nations in October 2021 to strengthen strategic collaboration on health security, including communicable diseases. Delivery of the work programme under the Common Framework is overseen by the UK Health Protection Committee, which was established by legislation and is, in turn, supported by a Four Nations Health Protection Oversight Group.The UK Chief Medical Officer (CMO) group acts as an additional senior level body to ensure alignment and coordination in our approach to health security, including pandemic preparedness, and is accountable to all four UK CMOs.

Clinical Trials

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including people with weakened immune systems in (a) clinical trials and (b) post-marketing surveillance programmes for vaccines.

Will Quince: Studying vaccines in immunodeficient people can only be done when the characteristics of the immune response have been established for the specific vaccine in healthy individuals. Therefore, this cannot be requested in clinical trials taking place before marketing authorisation is granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).Given the diversity of immunodeficient populations, which is difficult to represent in pre-authorisation clinical trials, the MHRA can recommended at the time of authorisation of a new vaccine that the manufacturer commits to undertaking post authorisation studies focusing on effectiveness and safety in these patient groups. This was the case for the new COVID-19 vaccines authorised in the United Kingdom, given that immunodeficient patients are at increased risk of severe COVID-19.Another way to collect post-marketing data on the safety of vaccines in immunodeficient groups is by targeted active monitoring. As part of the MHRA’s proactive surveillance strategy to monitor the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, this was undertaken in certain groups of vaccine recipients, including those with immunodeficiencies. The aim was to compare the frequency and severity of side effects to groups included in the pre-authorisation clinical trials, and ultimately help to further characterise the safety profile of the vaccines in these patient groups.

Clinical Trials

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the level of use of point of care or at home diagnostic testing in decentralising clinical trials.

Will Quince: We are unable to provide information on the level of use of point of care or at home testing in decentralised clinical trials as the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network does not routinely categorise data on methods used in decentralised trials.The pandemic sped up the evolution of clinical trial delivery in the United Kingdom to take trial activities to patients, rather than the traditional model of bringing patients to a trial site. In March 2021 the Government published ‘Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery’ setting out ambitions to reform clinical research delivery in the UK. The Phase 2 Implementation Plan, published in June 2022, sets out the plans to expand innovative delivery models, including decentralised trials, building on successes of methods used during COVID-19. This includes supporting and enabling an increase in decentralised study designs and research taking place in primary care and community settings.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how many people are self-medicating with recreational cannabis for the treatment of chronic illnesses; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: No estimate has been made. Licensed cannabis-based medicines are routinely available and funded on the National Health Service. However, for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines, clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions.We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.

Monkeypox: Vaccination

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to extend the mpox vaccination programme, in the context of case numbers in London in summer 2023.

Maria Caulfield: In December 2022, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) led the four public health bodies of the United Kingdom in publishing a joint strategy for Mpox control which is available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mpox-monkeypox-control-uk-strategy-2022-to-2023/uk-strategy-for-mpox-control-2022 -to-2023. This stated the ambition to work towards elimination of person-to-person Mpox transmission in the UK. The strategy made clear that vaccination was one of eight key areas of public health intervention, and that the vaccination programme would continue to be reviewed, drawing on the best available evidence, to ensure it delivers as efficiently as possible to protect those most at risk from Mpox. The Government remain committed to delivering on this strategy. UKHSA continues to monitor the epidemiology of the Mpox outbreak very closely, including the recent, small cluster of cases in London, and are ready to scale up a response as required.

Mental Health Services

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to help improve safeguarding at mental health providers.

Maria Caulfield: The Government announced on 23 January 2023 that we would be conducting a Rapid Review into mental health inpatient settings, with a specific focus on how we use data and evidence, including complaints, feedback and whistleblowing alerts, to identify risks to safety. The review has now concluded and its findings are expected to be published shortly.NHS England has also established a three-year Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Inpatient Quality Transformation Programme which seeks to tackle the root causes of unsafe, poor-quality inpatient care in mental health, learning disability and autism settings.

Ivetsey Bank Hospital: Standards

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken following the Care Quality Commission's rating of the Ivetsy Bank Hospital as inadequate in March 2023.

Maria Caulfield: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) changed the overall rating of Ivetsey Bank Hospital in Stafford from requires improvement to inadequate following a focused inspection of the hospital in November following patient safety concerns being raised. CQC have kept the hospital in its special measures process, which means it will be closely monitored and re-inspected to assess whether improvements have been made to keep people safe.

Vaccination: Manufacturing Industries

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to onshore vaccine manufacturing capability; and what assessment his Department has made of the UK’s preparedness for Disease X.

Maria Caulfield: The United Kingdom’s Government is taking steps across the health family to ensure the UK is prepared for any future pandemic. We have established the Centre for Pandemic Preparedness within UK Health Security Agency which is working to ensure the UK’s future pandemic response is faster, more effective and more efficient to reduce the negative impacts of health threats to the UK.On vaccines, over £405 million has been invested through the Vaccine Taskforce to secure and scale up the UK’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities to ensure a robust response to COVID-19 and potential future health emergencies.The UK Government has also announced the £38 million Biomanufacturing Fund to incentivise investment in the biomanufacturing supply chain for vaccines and therapeutics and the Government and Moderna have entered into a long-term strategic partnership in December 2022. Together this funding will improve the UK’s resilience to future health emergencies.

Ticks: Health Education

Anthony Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of public information campaigns on (a) safety relating to ticks and (b) tick-bite prevention measures in (i) GP surgeries and (ii) outdoor spaces.

Maria Caulfield: UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), along with local authority partners, developed a Tick Awareness Toolkit, available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1149305/Be_tick_aware_toolkit.pdfThe toolkit can be used by local authorities and other organisations to deliver tick awareness messaging, including safety relating to ticks and the promotion of tick-bite prevention behaviours. This can be deployed in a variety of settings, including general practitioner surgeries and outdoor spaces. The toolkit also encourages local authorities to evaluate the impact of any campaign work.UKHSA have also used the Tick Surveillance Scheme and Lyme Disease Fingertips datasets to identify potentially higher risk locations in England. This information has been shared with local authorities, along with the resources in the Tick Awareness Toolkit, to enable them to produce more targeted campaigns.

Mental Health Services

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the responses to his Department's call for evidence on long-term mental health support which closed on 7 July 2022.

Maria Caulfield: A summary of the responses received in response to the call for evidence was published on 17 May 2023 and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/mental-health-and-wellbeing-plan-discussion-paper-and-call-for-evidence The responses we received will feed into the development of mental health and suicide prevention policies we include in the Major Conditions Strategy and the Suicide Prevention Strategy.

Vaccination: Manufacturing Industries

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help encourage vaccine manufacturers to manufacture their vaccines in the UK; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of higher levels of UK-based vaccine production on Scotland.

Maria Caulfield: Over £405 million has been invested through the Vaccine Taskforce to secure and scale up the United Kingdom’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities to ensure a robust response to COVID-19 and potential future health emergencies. To further improve the UK's resilience to future health emergencies, we have recently announced the £38 million Biomanufacturing Fund to incentivise investment in the biomanufacturing supply chain for vaccines and therapeutics. Together this funding will improve the UK’s resilience to future health emergencies.

Prescriptions: Pregnancy

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making maternity exemption certificates apply from the start of the pregnancy even if applied for later.

Maria Caulfield: We have made no specific assessment. The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 2015 provide that a maternity exemption certificate (Matex) must be backdated one month before the date on which the application is received by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). NHS BSA then process applications for Matex certificates on behalf of the Secretary of State.The application process requires that a health care professional such as a midwife or a general practitioner to authorise the application to confirm the patient’s pregnancy and expected due date, with NHS BSA then issuing the Matex on this basis.

Children: Hospices

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Children's Hospice Grant agreement (a) continuing beyond 2023-24 and (b) expiring on (i) the current availability of child hospice funding and (ii) ease in which hospices can access funding.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the funding Children's Hospices receive through Integrated Care Boards..

Helen Whately: Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population.The Government and NHS England are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Discussions between the Department and NHS England regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to be able to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.

St George's Hospital Tooting

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the children's cancer services at St George's Hospital.

Helen Whately: NHS England has been working with children’s cancer specialists, patients, cancer charities and the public to set standards for the way services for children with cancer should be organised at St George’s Hospital. This follows the independent review in cancer services that concluded all principal treatment centres must be co-located with a paediatric intensive care unit.NHS England is currently looking at how to meet the new requirements for the children’s cancer principal treatment centre for South London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex in the future, where paediatric intensive care is only available on the St George’s Hospital Site.

Hospices: Children

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS England on extending the Children’s Hospice Grant agreement beyond its current lifecycle.

Helen Whately: Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population. The Government and NHS England are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Discussions between the Department and NHS England regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to be able to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.

Hospices: Children

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Together for Short Lives on funding for Children's Hospices.

Helen Whately: Together for Short Lives is a key partner in the delivery of high-quality palliative and end of life care for children and young people, having worked collaboratively with the Department and NHS England on a number of important pieces of work, including the development of the Service Specification for Children and Young People’s Palliative and End of Life Care. Together for Short Lives is also a valuable member of NHS England’s Children’s Hospice Grant Working Group, which was established to support administration of the Children’s Hospice Grant.

Cancer: Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that (a) local and (b) national data on cancer waiting times is accessible to the public.

Helen Whately: Information on the waiting times of people referred by their general practitioner with suspected cancer or breast symptoms and those subsequently diagnosed with and treated for cancer by the National Health Service in England is published on a monthly basis by NHS England. Data is published at national level, by provider and by commissioner, and available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

Cancer and Radiology

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made recent representations made to (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) NHS England on investment in the clinical (i) radiology and (ii) oncology workforce.

Helen Whately: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care meets regularly with other Cabinet colleagues and with NHS England to discuss issues relating to the National Health Service workforce.

Dentistry: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with universities located in (a) Hull and (b) York on the possible establishment of a (i) satellite and (ii) full dental school in York or Hull.

Neil O'Brien: The Secretary of State meets regularly with other Cabinet colleagues and ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on GOV.UK.

Pharmacy

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with primary care (a) representative groups and (b) practitioners on the role of community pharmacy in the Primary Care Access Recovery Plan.

Neil O'Brien: The Secretary of State meets regularly with other Cabinet colleagues and ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on GOV.UK.

Smoking: Mental Illness

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his Department's policy to continue the NHS Tobacco dependency programme for people accessing community mental health services.

Neil O'Brien: As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England is funding seven pilots across England to test different models of tobacco dependency care within specialist mental health community services. This will provide insight into how to tailor effective tobacco dependency services for patients with serious mental illness in community settings, but also to inform any further policy development in this area.

Transplant Surgery: Waiting Lists

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure people waiting for an organ transplant are assessed by the TransplantBenefitScore according to medical need and family circumstances.

Neil O'Brien: The Transplant Benefit Score (TBS) assesses transplant benefit predominantly based on medical need. It was developed from real patients on the United Kingdom transplant waiting list and is based on 21 objective recipient parameters which have been shown to best reflect the risk of patients dying without a transplant within five years of registration.Subjective factors are not included in the assessment of need or transplant benefit as this information is not captured within the national programme. There is no mechanism to quantify subjective measures within the TBS relative to all other patients on the list.

Gonorrhoea: Vaccination

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) fund and (b) procure a vaccine to treat gonorrhoea.

Maria Caulfield: Currently there are no vaccines in the United Kingdom licensed for protection against gonorrhoea. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are aware of ongoing studies evaluating the potential protection against gonorrhoea from meningococcal B vaccination and plan to consider evidence on other vaccines which could be used to protect against gonorrhoea. Once the JCVI has concluded its review and provided advice, the Government will consider options for implementing a programme.

Infectious Diseases

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mapping the UK's immunological research capacity for pandemic preparedness.

Maria Caulfield: The Life Sciences Vision committed the Government to delivering a Vaccines Healthcare Mission which will build on the United Kingdom’s deep expertise in vaccines to strengthen the UK life sciences ecosystem, with a particular focus on new and novel technologies.The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre has been established to strengthen UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) work in vaccine discovery, development and evaluation, with the aim of strengthening preparedness for future pandemics and other high consequence infectious diseases.Through UKHSA the Government works on an ongoing basis with academia and industry to understand capacity and capability needs for pandemic preparedness and wider health threats. The UKHSA’s strategic approach to pandemic preparedness includes understanding and regularly reviewing UKHSA’s research capacity.

Plastic Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of cosmetic surgical procedures carried out by the NHS in the last two years.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not held in the format requested.

Autism and Learning Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on delivering the Building the Right Support Action Plan.

Maria Caulfield: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Feltham and Heston on 24 May 2023 to Question 185641.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to include training on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood in medical professional training at all levels.

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding to help (a) develop and (b) run national medical education on sudden unexpected death in childhood.

Neil O'Brien: The standard of training for doctors is set by the General Medical Council (GMC) and training programmes must meet these standards. The GMC also approve higher education institutions to develop and teach the curricula content which is designed to enable students to meet the desired standards. The curricula for postgraduate specialty training are set by individual royal colleges and faculties, and the GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all emphasise the skills and approaches a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. The Government has no plans to provide additional funding for this specific purpose, funding for medical education and training is included within NHS England’s budget and it will be a decision for them on how they prioritise their resources.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding to support a review of the care provided to families affected by sudden, unexpected child death.

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding to help improve the professional joint agency response to sudden and unexpected child death. .

Neil O'Brien: Losing a child is one of the most difficult things a family can go through.  Listening to bereaved families, ensuring clear communication and establishing support is a top priority following the death of a child. We are holding a roundtable later this year which will likely focus on professional awareness and training opportunities, seeking to improve confidence in understanding and responding to Sudden Unexplained Death in Child. The work in progress on this issue is being met within existing budgets.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps taking to improve care for families affected by sudden, unexpected child death.

Neil O'Brien: It is priority to ensure parents and families have access to readily available information when their child dies. NHS England are in the process of reviewing content drafted by patient groups and confirming processes for updating the NHS.UK website to include relevant information relating to Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), with a view to have updates published in the coming months.NHS England also still intend to update the ‘When A Child Dies’ leaflet over the next year in collaboration with affected families, parents and carers, as well as National Child Mortality Database colleagues and SUDC charities, including SUDC UK and relevant professional groups.The Department will hold a roundtable later this year which will likely focus on professional awareness and training opportunities, seeking to improve confidence in understanding and responding to SUDC.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to update the NHS website with information about Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood; and if he will make this updating a priority.

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to update public information leaflets on febrile seizures.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England are in the process of reviewing content drafted by patient groups and confirming processes for updating the NHS.UK website to include relevant information on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), with a view to have updates published in the coming months. This includes exploring the most helpful options for updating information relating to febrile seizures.NHS England intend to update the ‘When A Child Dies’ leaflet over the next year in collaboration with affected families, parents and carers, as well as National Child Mortality Database colleagues and SUDC charities, including SUDC UK and relevant professional groups.

Dental Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish his plan for NHS Dentistry.

Neil O'Brien: Our plan for National Health Service dentistry will be published shortly to build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022 and make more progress to support and recover NHS dentistry. The plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access particularly for new patients, how we can incentivise dental practices to deliver more NHS care and how we can improve oral health outcomes for adults and children for the longer term.

Dental Health: Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he introduce a national toothbrushing programme to help improve childhood oral healthcare.

Neil O'Brien: In England local authorities are responsible for improving the oral health of their local populations, and some local authorities have supervised toothbrushing programmes in place for early years settings and schools. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have published guidance to help local authorities who are interested in schemes, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-oral-health-supervised-tooth-brushing-programme-toolkit

Electronic Cigarettes: Sales

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) ban over-the-counter sales of vapes and (b) make vapes only available to people who are taking part in (i) smoking and (ii) vaping cessation programmes.

Neil O'Brien: There are no current plans to ban the sale of over-the-counter sales of vapes or to make vapes only available to people who are taking part in cessation programmes. The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help adults quit smoking, vapes should not be used by people under 18 years old or by non-smokers.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase funding for local authorities to reduce the prevalence of vaping in (a) children and young people and (b) adults.

Neil O'Brien: In 2023 to 2024 the total public health grant to local authorities will be £3.529 billion. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions on improving the health of their local population and reducing health inequalities.Stop Smoking Services are already encouraged to advise vapers who wish to stop vaping, if the person is confident that they can do so without relapsing back to smoking. As part of the new national ‘swap to stop’ programme, we will also offer support to those who want to quit vaping too once the risk of relapse to smoking has passed.We have also recently announced new funding to crack down on youth vaping including £3 million to a new illicit vaping enforcement squad to tackle illicit and underage vape sales.

HIV Infection: Preventive Medicine

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that (a) access to and (b) uptake of (i) PrEP and (ii) other HIV preventative measures is equitable across different groups.

Neil O'Brien: As part of our HIV Action Plan implementation, we are working together with key stakeholders to improve access to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for key population groups. The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group is working to develop a roadmap, based on the PrEP Access and Equity Task and Finish group’s recommendations, to help guide our efforts to ensure access, uptake, and use of PrEP meets the needs of groups most at risk of HIV.HIV PrEP is routinely available in specialist sexual health services throughout the country since March 2020 and we invested more than £34 million in PrEP in 2020/21 and 2021/22. PrEP funding has been fully included within the public health grant since 2022/23 and funds appointments and testing in sexual health services, whilst NHS England covers the costs of the drug itself.As part of the HIV Action Plan and our combination approach to HIV prevention, we are investing £3.5 million over 2021 to 2024 in HIV Prevention England, a national HIV prevention programme targeting key population groups with a high burden of HIV. NHS England has committed £20 million, 2022 to 2025, to fund the expansion of HIV opt-out testing in emergency departments in areas with extremely high HIV prevalence, which has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV in the first year of the programme. Treatment as prevention is a key HIV prevention measure and treatment coverage in England remained high in 2021 at 99% and was consistent across all groups.

HIV Infection: Screening

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the availability of HIV testing.

Neil O'Brien: Local authorities in England are responsible for commissioning open access sexual and reproductive health services, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, through the Public Health Grant, funded at £3.5 billion in 2023/24. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need and to commission the service lines that best suit their population.Increasing the availability of HIV testing is one of our core ambitions in the Government’s HIV Action plan published in December 2021. As part of the plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million from 2021 to 2024 to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme. This includes national campaigns such as the National HIV Testing Week (NHTW) and the Summer Campaign designed to normalise and reduce barriers to testing, such as stigma. In 2023 the NHTW delivered more than 20,000 HIV testing kits targeted at the most affected communities.NHS England has committed £20 million, between 2022 to 2025, to fund the expansion of HIV opt-out testing in emergency departments in areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. This has helped diagnose 2,000 new cases of blood-borne viruses (Hepatitis B and C as well as HIV) in the first year of the programme. We will be considering the data recently released alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030 to examine the feasibility of further expanding this programme.

HIV Infection: Health Services

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of HIV (a) treatments and (b) retention in care settings.

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve quality of life for and (b) reduce the stigma faced by people living with HIV.

Neil O'Brien: Improving Treatment and retention in care, as well as quality of life for and reducing the stigma faced by people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are objectives in the Government’s HIV Action plan published in December 2021.NHS England are currently reviewing the national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including availability of community, psychological and psychosocial support for patients to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV.As part of the HIV Action Plan Steering Group, a re-engagement and retention in care task and finish group was established in 2023. This group will provide advice on increasing the number of people retained and re-engaged in care and receiving effective treatment. They will present their recommendations to the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group, who will agree on how the advice will be taken forward.

Monkeypox

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to provide funding for sexual health clinics for mpox work that was not covered by local authority tariffs.

Neil O'Brien: No additional funding is currently planned for sexual health services in response to Mpox. Funding has been provided for antiviral medicines to treat Mpox, the procurement of the smallpox vaccine and for sexual health services to deliver this vaccine to those eligible for vaccination. There have been very few Mpox cases reported in the United Kingdom so far this year compared to the 2022 outbreak. It is likely that multiple factors, including vaccination, have contributed to the decline in transmission. We continue to work towards the goal of elimination of person-to-person Mpox transmission in the UK.The Department is providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25. This will provide every local authority real-terms funding protection over the next two years. Individual local authorities are responsible for and well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the sexual health services that best meet the needs of their local populations.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people have adequate access to sexual health services.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to data on gonorrhoea and syphilis diagnoses, published by the UK Health and Security Agency on 6 June 2023, what steps his Department is taking to reduce gonorrhoea and syphilis infections.

Neil O'Brien: Sexual health services play a key public health role in diagnosis, early treatment and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including syphilis and gonorrhoea. We are providing more than £3.5 billion to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, in this financial year. Individual local authorities are responsible for and well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the sexual health services that best meet the needs of their local populations, ensuring patients can be adequately diagnosed and treated to avoid further transmission and long-term health problems.As part of the HIV Action Plan, we are investing over £3.5 million from 2021 to 2024 to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme for England, including HIV Testing Week and other campaigns to improve information and testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other STIs.The UK Health Security Agency supports local areas to improve sexual health service delivery through data monitoring and reporting. It has also published a Syphilis Action Plan to address the increase in syphilis diagnosis in England, focusing on key interventions such as targeted testing, partner notification and awareness raising.

Pharmacy

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to bring forward a statutory instrument proposed in his Department's consultation of 16 March 2022 to allow the operation of hub and spoke dispensing models across different legal entities so that independent community pharmacies may compete on a level playing field with vertically integrated group pharmacies and have the capacity to deliver on the Pharmacy First proposals in his May 2023 Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: We are committed to pursuing legislative changes to level the playing field and enable all community pharmacies to make use of hub and spoke dispensing arrangements. We consulted on this last year and are currently finalising a response to the consultation, our aim is to publish this as soon as possible. The timetable for bringing forward the implementing legislation will be dependent on the availability of parliamentary time across the four nations.

Dental Services: Pregnancy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that all pregnant women have access to free dentistry.

Neil O'Brien: There are a range of exemptions to National Health Service dental patient charges, including for women who are pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/dental-costs/get-help-with-dental-costs/

Ministry of Defence

A400M Aircraft: Parachuting

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Royal Air Force's A400M aircraft have received clearance for low level parachuting capability.

James Cartlidge: The generation of evidence to support an initial clearance for the Low Level Parachute on Atlas is complete. However, a parachuting incident experienced by one of the Partner Nations has required mitigating action to be taken across the programme on safety grounds. Swift collaboration across the international programme has produced a minor modification for the aircraft but revised the transfer of the initial capability to the Front Line until September 2023. The full clearance of Low Level Parachute capability remains planned for January 2024.

Indo-Pacific Region: Military Alliances

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is working on joint procurement projects with allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

James Cartlidge: The Integrated Review Refresh 2023 recognises the UK will continue to put particular emphasis on developing high-end defence-industrial partnerships, both to strengthen the UK's own future procurement options and those of regional allies in the Indo-Pacific. This can be seen in AUKUS and through the Global Combat Air Programme, through which the UK, Japan and Italy are working together to design a next-generation combat aircraft.

A400M Aircraft and Hercules Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of task lines provided by the (a) C130J Hercules and (b) A400M Atlas in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022 and (iv) 2023.

James Cartlidge: In 2020 Atlas A400M was delivering around four task lines and Hercules was delivering around six task lines. Through 2021 and 2022 there was a steady increase in Atlas task lines and a managed drawdown of Hercules task lines.As of today A400M is delivering around nine task lines, and this will improve to ten by the summer as additional airframes complete retrofit maintenance.

Warships: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2022 to Question 31751 on Warships: Procurement and with reference his Department's paper entitled Defence in a Competitive Age, published in March 2021, whether the funding allocated for upgrading a Bay class support ship was spent on other projects.

James Cartlidge: The life extension of RFA Argus was the measure taken in preference to the capability upgrade of the LSDA class. Therefore, apart from the routine work by Ministry of Defence agencies of assessing the work required, no funding was allocated to upgrading a Bay Class Support ship and therefore no funding was re-allocated to other projects.

HMS Venturer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2023 to Question 186021, on HMS Venturer, on what date it was originally planned that vessel would enter service with the Royal Navy.

James Cartlidge: The approved in service date for the first Type 31, HMS VENTURER, is 2027. This date remains unchanged since the investment decision point in 2019.

A400M Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the A400M Atlas to be approved for (a) airdrop and (b) operational deployments.

James Cartlidge: The Atlas A400M has long been approved on operational deployments. It regularly undertakes logistic support to global operations, and has supported humanitarian and disaster relief operations. It is detached in both the broader Middle East and the South Atlantic Islands, where it has provided airdrop support to the British Antarctic Survey.The Department has acknowledged that a few niche airdrop capabilities remain to be approved for Atlas, but those clearances are expected between now and 2025.

Armed Forces: Length of Service

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of service in the British Armed Forces is for personnel who joined in (a) 1992, (b) 2002, (c) 2012 and (d) 2022.

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of service of Armed Forces personnel is.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The attached supporting Table 1 details the average (mean) length of service of trained and trade-trained UK Regulars on exit from service in years. It shows the average length of service attained for individuals who left service in each of the years 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022. The data for 1992 and 2002 is not available. Supporting Table 2 details the average (mean) length of service (in years) attained by trained and trade-trained UK Regulars who were still serving as at current strength 1 January 2023 and also by individual Service.Trained UK Regulars; Average Length of Service (xlsx, 32.0KB)

Confederation of Service Charities: Finance

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of funding for the Confederation of Service Charities at supporting the armed forces community.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Confederation of Service Charities (Cobseo) provides positive and effective leadership across the Service Charity sector, acting as a trusted voice of charities when engaging with His Majesty's Government. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is proud to work closely with Cobseo to support the Armed Forces' community across the UK. This work includes collaboration to deliver the Armed Forces Covenant and through regular senior and working level engagement. The MOD and Office for Veterans' Affairs have also provided Cobseo with a five-year grant funding arrangement to assist with internal governance arrangements, which enables Cobseo to continue be an effective voice for the sector.

Royal Navy Royal Marines Motorsports Association: Finance

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of the Royal Navy Royal Marines Motorsport Association Grant.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As set out in JSP660, sports associations that deliver demonstrable benefit to Service personnel can receive funding. The Royal Navy Royal Marines Motorsport Association (RNRMMSA) has been supported as it enables the development of teamwork, decision-making under pressure and resilience skills. Several hundred personnel participate in dozens of fixtures at all levels from grassroots to international competition.Recent investment has facilitated significant new membership and enabled the RNRMMSA to purchase accessible equipment to generate greater participation at a reduced cost to the individual.

Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund at achieving its objectives.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The annual £10 million Armed Forces Covenant Fund continues to provide real change to Armed Forces communities across the UK. Through the effective management of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, the Covenant Fund continues to adhere to the four funding themes outlined since its inception: non-core healthcare services for veterans; removing barriers to family life; extra support, both in and after service, for those that need help; and measures to integrate military and civilian communities. In doing so, since 2015 the Fund has distributed £75 million to support Service personnel, veterans and their families across the UK. In addition, the Trust has also awarded additional funding outside of the Covenant Fund for wider programmes supporting the Armed Forces community including the Covid Impact Programme, the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, and the Afghanistan Veterans Fund.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons any military service undertaken before the age of 18 is not counted towards veterans' overall pension value.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The only Armed Forces' pension scheme in which service before the age of 18 is not taken into account when calculating the value of the pension is the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 (AFPS 75) for Regulars, which has existed in various forms since 1914, and which was closed to new entrants on 5 April 2005, on the introduction of the modernised AFPS 2005. The age requirements for the AFPS 75 scheme have been in place since at least 1940 and its pension structure is based on the 'band of brothers' principle under which all members who retire at the same rank with the same years of reckonable service receive the same pension.The AFPS 75 rules do not specify a normal pension age, but the benefit structure assumes a pension age of 55. Reckonable service is defined as paid service after the age of 21 for Officers and 18 for Other Ranks, and the maximum which can be accrued by an Officer is 34 years, and by Other Ranks is 37 years. Under the terms of AFPS 75, Officers may retire with an immediate pension after sixteen years of service and Other Ranks may do the same after 22 years. However, the maximum (full) career pension is only payable where a member begins service at either 18 (Other Ranks) or 21 (Officers) and serves the relevant maximum years, retiring at 55.

Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations Review

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations Review Implementation Grant.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Secretary of State for Defence has not conducted a formal assessment of the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCA) Review funding.The RFCA Reform Programme was set up following the 2019 review of the RFCAs and was paused in March 2023 due to failing to obtain a legislative slot in the third and fourth sessions of Parliament. This decision was endorsed by the Chief of Defence People and Permanent Under-Secretary.Ministry of Defence (MOD) and RFCA teams have worked together to instil new executive roles (Human Resources, Commercial and Finance Directors) which have been established within the Council of RFCAs. A significant amount of resource has been invested to develop a more formal governance process and to ensure MOD is a more intelligent customer of the RFCAs. This work currently remains at an interim operating level, in that the formal governance processes we wish to see are not all yet at full operating level.The RFCAs continue to provide a vital role in supporting Defence activity. This is done primarily through their three core tasks: managing the volunteer estate and providing infrastructure support (facilities management); employer engagement, and support to the Services' Cadets and youth. The RFCAs are also engaged in community engagement, which is carried out through their extensive network of volunteer members based within the community.

Veterans: Mental Health Services

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the veterans mental health strategic lead grants at achieving their objectives.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Veterans' Places, Pathways and People portfolio grants stage 2 at achieving its objectives.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust is responsible for administering the HM Treasury funded Veterans' Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. The Veterans' Places, Pathways and People (VPPP) programme is funded through the Veterans' Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund.The Fund awarded £9 million to 14 major projects through the VPPP programme. This programme supported projects to encourage the development of safe, welcoming places for veterans to go in their local area, support for the people (staff and volunteers in organisations that support veterans) to be able to have access to good quality training, and to connect veterans into wider pathways, including for mental health support and treatment.The VPPP strategic leads are delivering significant projects. These grants are due to conclude in March 2024; and will complete formal end of grant monitoring processes. All the grants are currently being monitored against agreed delivery plans. Additionally, the Trust is undertaking an evaluation into the VPPP programme as a whole.

HMS Dasher

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June 2023 to Question 187400 on HMS Dasher, if his Department will provide support for the search for grave sites of those servicemen lost in HMS Dasher in 1943 on land, who were not included in official records.

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 June too Question 187400 on HMS Dasher, if he will support the search for grave sites on land of those lost in HMS Dasher in 1943 which are not included in official records.

Dr Andrew Murrison: HMS DASHER tragically sank in March 1943 following an explosion onboard where no enemy action was involved. All those lost on HMS DASHER are commemorated either on a headstone marking their grave, or on a memorial to the missing.The wreck of HMS DASHER is the last known resting place for 356 servicemen and, in line with Government policy to let war casualties lie undisturbed, the wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986; this means the site can only be accessed under a licence granted by the Secretary of State for Defence.In response to concerns that some casualties from this tragedy were buried on land, there has been two surveys. Neither survey has found any evidence of casualties buried on land and there is no intention to conduct further surveys until such time as further evidence is provided.

Navy: Fuels

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the success of the Petrol Pier Pontoon (MSSC) Grant in achieving its aims and objectives.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Engineering Pathway (Marine Society and Sea Cadets) Grant.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The grants made by the Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC) to both the Marine Engineering Pathway and the Petrol Pier Pontoon are assessed to have had a positive effect.The MSSC Marine Engineering Pathway is a national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative which is providing workshops to 10,000 young people a year in schools across the UK. It offers a practical understanding of the world of marine engineering and highlights key issues such as climate change and career opportunities in the maritime sector.The MSSC Offshore Fleet consists of five vessels which are based at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport, Hampshire and operate around the UK coastline delivering week-long life-changing voyages for Sea Cadets. Berthing and access to the Offshore Fleet is via the Petrol Pier pontoon which is used to deliver groups of Sea Cadets safely to their vessels.

Home Office

Asylum: MOD Wethersfield

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date she expects the Wethersfield asylum site to (a) start receiving asylum seekers and (b) cease to be used as asylum accommodation.

Robert Jenrick: The current accommodation system is unsustainable and hugely unfair to taxpayers. We recently set out to the House our plans for a fairer asylum accommodation system. It is not appropriate during a cost of living crisis, that the Home Office should be spending around £6m a day housing asylum seekers in hotels.For these sites, we will use a phased approach, increasing the number of asylum seekers accommodated at the site over time. We will continue to work closely with key local stakeholders to address their concerns and minimise any potential impacts on the local area. We are nearing go-live date and will continue to provide more details.

Shoplifting: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) reports of, (b) charges for and (c) convictions for shoplifting were there in (i) Enfield North Constituency, (ii) the London Borough of Enfield and (iii) London in each of the last three years for which data is available.

Chris Philp: The latest Crime Stats for England and Wales estimates show a 47% fall in theft compared with the year ending March 2010, down from 5.0 million to 2.6 million offences.The Home Office publishes information on the number of recorded offences for shoplifting and their investigative outcomes at Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnerships Area level in England and Wales.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesData for the Enfield Community Safety Partnership Area and London can be found in the table below:Number of recorded offences of shoplifting and charges, by calendar year:Recorded CrimesCharges 202020212022202020212022Enfield8998761,065875536London*35,72833,72738,7683,8202,5372,717* - Figures for London include Metropolitan Police and City of London force areasInformation about breakdowns of crimes and their outcomes at a more granular level, such as parliamentary constituencies, are not available.The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions for the offence ’46 Theft from shops’ in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2022Information about the number of convictions by Community Safety Partnership (CSP) is not available. Police Force Area-level breakdowns are available in this tool, though note this will relate to the location of the convicting court which differ from where the offence took place.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grants of (a) settled and (b) pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme were made only after the applicant had had to provide further evidence of residence.

Robert Jenrick: That data can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Refugees: Oppression and Violence

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what due diligence checks her Department undertakes to ensure funding awarded to foreign governments is not supporting the use of violent and oppressive measures towards refugees.

Robert Jenrick: The Overseas Security and Justice Assessment Guidance (which can be found on GOV.UK) and is owned by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office sets out the considerations undertaken by the Home Office and other government departments in relation to supporting foreign governments with security and justice matters.

Refugees: Ukraine

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the children who arrived in the UK in 2022 under the Ukraine Schemes were neither travelling with nor joining a parent or guardian in the UK.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children from Ukraine (a) submitted an application, (b) were granted a visa and (c) were refused a visa to come to the UK in the first quarter of 2023; and how many (i) withdrew an application to come to the UK before it was decided and (ii) arrived in the UK in the same time period.

Robert Jenrick: Information on the number of applications received and number of arrivals in the UK can be found here Ukraine Visa Schemes: visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Details of the age of those who have arrived is available here Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)All unaccompanied children’s applications are considered in line with the Immigration Rules and Guidance. However, data on the number of children who were considered to be unaccompanied is not published in the public domain.

Travel Requirements

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the total cost to her Department of administering applications for electronic travel authorisation.

Robert Jenrick: On 6 June, I set in a Written Ministerial Statement (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-06-06/hcws821(opens in a new tab)), that the proposed fee for an ETA application is £10.00. This is set at a level that will cover the costs of administering the system and is competitive compared with similar international schemes by international partners.It is the government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer.The estimated cost of administering each ETA application will be published when the ETA fee is formally set in the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations in Autumn 2023.

Offences against Children: Organised Crime

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent grooming by gangs.

Miss Sarah Dines: In April the Prime Minister and Home Secretary announced a package of measures to improve our response to child sexual exploitation, including a new Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce. The Police Taskforce will help improve how the police investigate child sexual exploitation, providing practical, expert, on the ground support for forces on all forms of child sexual abuse, with a particular focus on complex and organised child sexual exploitation, including grooming gangs.Through the Government’s Drug Strategy, we are bolstering our flagship County Lines Programme, investing up to £145m over three years to tackle the most violent and exploitive distribution model yet seen.To strengthen the policing response and prevent grooming by gangs, we fund several national programmes to develop and deliver an effective and victim-focused response to these crimes. This includes the Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children’s Society, which works with a range of partners across the statutory, charitable and private sectors, to tackle and prevent child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, child financial exploitation and modern slavery, both nationally and regionally.The Government also funds the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme which identifies and shares best practice across police forces, the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme which helps police to uncover more of this offending, as well as a range of officer training programmes across all ranks to improve their confidence and capability to investigate these crimes. The Government’s Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit was also re-developed and updated in September 2022 to provide frontline agencies and all those who engage with children further knowledge on how these abhorrent crimes can be disrupted.

Visas: Foreign Investment in UK

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reintroducing the tier one investor visa scheme for entry to the UK.

Robert Jenrick: The Tier 1 (Investor) route was closed in February 2022 because the programme offered a route of entry to people whose wealth had been obtained through illicit means, was vulnerable to fraud and delivered poor economic outcomes.We have seen no evidence to suggest there was any error in this original assessment and the direction of travel has been for other comparator countries to announce the closure of their equivalent programmes citing similar findings.There are no plans to reintroduce the route.

Hate Crime: Transgender People

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to section 2.1 of the official statistics entitled Hate crime, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022, published on 6 October 2022, what assessment she has made of the reasons for which transgender hate crime increased by 56 per cent since 2020-21; whether she is taking steps to help tackle this trend; and if she will make a statement.

Miss Sarah Dines: The Government takes all forms of hate crime seriously. We expect the police to make sure the cowards who commit these abhorrent crimes feel the full force of the law.The Government is committed to reducing all crime which is why we have successfully recruited over 20,000 extra police officers.We welcome the fact that more victims of all forms of hate crime are coming forward to report to the police and that the police are improving their recording of these crimes. The biggest driver for the increase in recorded hate crime is likely to be general improvements in police recording. This is positive and reflects the hard work that has gone in to ensuring that police can target their resources, understand the scale of the challenge, and ensure that victims get the support they need.

Asylum: MOD Wethersfield

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Wethersfield site being used as asylum accommodation on local services.

Robert Jenrick: The site at Wethersfield is designed to be as self-sufficient as possible, in order to minimise the impact on local communities and services. This includes 24/7 security, on-site catering, basic healthcare and transport provision for those housed on site. The safety and security of the local communities, those resident on the sites and the sites themselves are of the utmost importance. The final funding arrangements will be communicated shortly.

Asylum: MOD Wethersfield

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the annual cost to the public purse of (a) setting up and (b) running the Wethersfield asylum site.

Robert Jenrick: Cost information is prospective and commercially sensitive, and as such is not available to be released.

Drugs: Misuse

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to publish the report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on Part 2 review on barriers to research affecting Schedule 1 drugs; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: As the ACMD is an independent Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), sponsored by the Home Office, the timings concerning its report on Barriers to Research is a matter for the ACMD.I expect to receive an update from the ACMD in due course.

Asylum: Applications

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for applications for the five year route to settlement to receive an outcome; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.The published service standard is that straightforward applications should be processed within six months.

Home Office: Innovation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials her Department employs to work directly on public service innovation.

Chris Philp: Innovation is at the heart of our vision for a modern civil service, in particular finding new ways to solve problems and improve people’s lives, and seizing the full potential of data and technology.All officials are expected to contribute to public service innovation, whether through the policy they develop or in the services they deliver. This work can range from supporting continuous improvement to leading more radical transformation.The Home Office does not hold the data requested in a reportable format.

National Age Assessment Board

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the launch of the National Age Assessment Board on 31 March, how many qualified social workers had (a) completed the recruitment process to serve on the Board and (b) started their employment on the Board as of 20 April 2023.

Robert Jenrick: As of 20 April 2023, 16 social workers had completed the recruitment process and were employed to serve on the Board. This is in line with our projections for onboarding.Further recruitment is ongoing.

Animal Breeding: Animal Experiments

Laura Farris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to bring animal breeding for testing within the scope of the Animal Welfare Act 2006; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of compliance with commercial breeding licences for animal testing.

Tom Tugendhat: The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides protections for animals bred for the use in scientific procedures. Establishments licenced to breed animals under ASPA are required to comply with the published Code of Practice, which sets out standards for appropriate care and accommodation of animals.The Animals in Science Regulation Unit conduct audits and inspections to ensure establishments comply with the terms of their licences, the Code of Practice and with ASPA.The Animal Welfare Act 2006 specifically exempts any use of animals for scientific or educational purposes legally conducted and regulated under ASPA.The Government has no plans to change the current position with respect these pieces of legislation.

Ministry of Justice

Community Orders: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of hours of community service that were not carried out in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: It is not possible to provide the data for individual London boroughs due to how data is recorded, but data is available for the London region.For the period April 2014 to December 2022, 2,841,311 hours of Community Service were not carried out.The vast majority of these hours were unworked because offenders received tougher sentences through orders revoked and suspended sentences activated, including prison time.The attached table shows the total hours recorded as not carried out at termination of the requirement, by business year for the London region for the entire period 01/04/2014 – 31/12/2022.The dataset covers reasons hours are not carried out including offender deaths, deportation, orders revoked and resentenced, successful appeals and Suspended Sentence Order activated.For context: In 2019-2020, pre pandemic, Probation delivered 4,869,778 hours of unpaid work nationally. Between the 1 April 2022 and the 31 December 2022 (not a full year), Probation delivered 3,220,827 hours. We estimate that this will project to a full year delivery total of 4,294,436. All efforts are made to work hours, but where that is not possible then robust action is taken. For hours not worked due to non-compliance, enforcement action will be taken. Where it is not possible to work hours due to specific risk factors orders will be returned to the court.It has not been possible to provide data prior to April 2014. This date marked the completion of Transforming Rehabilitation’s migration of data to the National Delius system. Prior to this, the use of multiple differing local recording systems has resulted in less robust data which cannot be used with confidence, in response to this PQ.In the years 2019/20 and 2020/21, Community Payback was severely impacted by the pandemic and the resulting court backlogs. This included projects and organisations that provided placements being closed, along with the social distancing rules making it difficult for delivery to continue as normal.This Government has committed to invest an additional £93 million in Community Payback over the next three years. This is so that we ramp up delivery to 8 million hours per year, focusing on outdoor projects that help to improve public spaces, ensuring that people can see justice being done.188151_table (xlsx, 16.2KB)

Prisoners: Travellers

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has made of the total number of prisoners in England and Wales that come from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller backgrounds in the latest period for which data is available.

Damian Hinds: The number of prisoners self-designating as Gypsy and Traveller are published as part of a more detailed data set, which are released annually as part of the series ‘Offender Management Statistics Quarterly’. The most recent publication of this data was in July 2022.The requested information can be found in Table A1.9ii of the ‘Annual Prison Population 2022’ publication:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_‌data/file/1094517/Population_30June2022_Annual.ods.This showed that on 30 June 2022 1,459 prisoners self-designated as Irish Traveller or Gypsy.We do not record separate figures for those declaring as ‘Roma’. They may self-declare in the category ‘White: Irish Traveller or Gypsy’, or as ‘White: Other background’.

Prison Officers: Training

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the training provided to prison staff on the prevention of (a) unconscious bias and (b) discrimination.

Damian Hinds: MoJ Learning and Development for HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) provides operational training, predominantly for newly recruited prison officers and other prison staff. This training covers discrimination, which includes diversity and inclusion, procedural justice perceptions and rehabilitative culture. All HMPPS D&I learning has a common thread of conscious inclusion. The content of the prison officer training programme has been designed in consultation with organisational policy leads. All HMPPS staff have access to an online e-learning platform called MyLearning. This platform enables staff to continue their professional development journey and offers additional learning which includes workplace adjustments, developing cultural intelligence, diversity and inclusion and respect in the workplace. The Civil Service Expectations training package is also included on this platform which covers discrimination. The HMPPS Race Action Programme has a Learning and Development Project which has ambitions to address racial discrimination by improving our staff learning offer. This work began with a review of our existing learning provisions to assess quality and relevance. The project is now working to create an open learning culture for all; with better coordinated and more dynamic learning activity which will embed inclusivity across our organisation. This includes establishing a Learning Gateway Board to quality assure new learning, developing an interactive learning platform and setting up a central hub for all diversity and inclusion learning materials.

Prison Officers: Recruitment

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the cost to the public purse of recruitment processes for Prison Officers in each of the last 10 years.

Damian Hinds: The delivery model for prison officer recruitment in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and formerly, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), has changed several times since 2013 to align with business need. This has spanned local, regional, and centralised management of campaigns, as well as the current blended approach of central and local management, with recruitment costs delegated across roles in individual prisons, regional delivery areas, centralised teams, and contracted suppliers.Therefore, we do not hold complete figures in each year since 2013 as this information is held in a number of different areas and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The estimated cost to recruit and train a new Band 3 Prison Officer is around £13,000 as published in the Prison Service Pay Review Body 2021 report. Further information can be found on page 55 at: Prison Service Pay Review Body - Twentieth Report on England and Wales 2021 (publishing.service.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). Please be aware that the figures contained in the document are subject to regular change due to a number of variables and assumptions used to calculate the figures.

Prisoners on Remand: Immigration

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were (a) in remand in prison under s24, s25 and s25A of the Immigration Act 1971 and (b) in remand under the Act and subject to an age dispute in each of the last 12 months.

Damian Hinds: The number of prisoners on remand under s24, s25 and s25A of the Immigration Act 1971, for each of the last 12 months, is included in the attached table. Data regarding the number of prisoners on remand under the Immigration Act 197 and subject to an age dispute is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.Table (xlsx, 19.1KB)

Community Orders: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of community sentences that were handed down in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in each year since 2010.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people given community sentences who reoffended in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: Information on the number of individuals that a community sentence was issued to based on a principal offence, principal disposal basis, from 2010 to 2022, is publicly available and can be found in the Outcomes by Offence tool: 2022. Geographical area presented in this data tool is by police force area. Data for Enfield and London can be obtained by selecting the Metropolitan Police. Information on the proportion of people given community sentence who reoffended is not publicly available by geographical breakdown. It would be of disproportionate cost to provide such information. However, the information on the proportion of those given community orders who reoffended in each year since 2010 can be found in our Proven Reoffending Tables (Annual Average), April 2020 to March 2021.

Community Orders: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of hours of community service that were carried out in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: The table below shows the number of community service hours offenders have completed as a part of community sentences for the period between April 2014 to December 2022 for the London Probation region, it is not possible to provide data on a London Borough level due to the way data is recorded. YearsNumber of hours delivered2014/2015836,6962015/2016957,1702016/2017784,8562017/2018849,5152018/2019848,2302019/2020730,6692020/2021153,9632021/2022462,28801/04/2022-31/12/2022478,829Total6,102,215 A significant dip in performance can be seen in the years 2019/20 and 2020/21, which is attributed to the pandemic. Community Payback was severely affected by projects, and organisations that provided them, being closed, along with the social distancing rules making it difficult for delivery to continue as normal.

Immigration: Prosecutions

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted and sentenced as adults under s24, s25 and s25A of the Immigration Act 1971 and have subsequently been accepted to be children in each of the last 24 months.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions and sentence outcomes for defendants of different ages in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, including offences under section 24, 25 and 25A of the Immigration Act 1971 as set out in the Offence Group Classification. The tool includes filtering by specific offences.However, whether a defendant was subsequently found to be a child is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database and cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.

Offences against Children: Trials

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to allow children impacted by abuse to pre-record their evidence for trial as soon as possible after the incident has occurred, in the context of timeliness of access to psychological services.

Edward Argar: Pre-recorded cross-examination has been available to children and vulnerable adults in all Crown Courts since November 2022, under section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.The aim of section 28 is to enhance the quality and reliability of evidence by improving the witness experience of cross-examination and enhancing event recall by reducing the time between complaint and cross-examination. Judges consider on a case-by-case basis whether using section 28 is in the interests of justice, will improve the quality of the witness’s evidence and will materially advance the date for the cross-examination.

Community Orders: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of hours of unpaid work completed at home in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London as part of community sentences in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: Unpaid Work completed from home was introduced as a temporary delivery method in response to Covid-19. As such, there are no data prior to the year 2020-21. It is not possible to provide the data for individual London boroughs or constituencies due to how data is recorded, data is available for the London Probation region, provided below.YearUPW Hours Completed at home (London Probation Region)2020-21145632021-229933401/04/2022-31/12/202236590Independent working projects enabled eligible offenders to complete some of their hours from home. All offenders were assessed by Probation staff before being offered any independent working projects.All products created by offenders via independent working projects were for the benefit of prisons or local charities. Projects have included a range of robust and practical tasks such as, producing hats and scarves for Ukrainian refugees and making face masks and PPE for Care Homes and charities during the pandemic. Safeguards were in place to ensure that offenders complete the project to a high standard within a set time period.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to tackle overcrowding in prisons.

Damian Hinds: We are delivering 20,000 additional modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public.We have already delivered c.5,200 places, including through the brand new prison, HMP Fosse Way, which started accepting prisoners at the end of May. This is in addition to the new prison, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year. We have also delivered c.700 temporary places delivered through modular units.

Secure Accommodation: Young People

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2023 to Question 152263 on Secure Accommodation: Bristol, for what reasons a young person would be placed in secure accommodation away from their home area.

Damian Hinds: A child or young person may be placed away from their home area for a number of reasons, including where their individual needs and/or their risk to themselves or others can be managed more appropriately in a different establishment. Children and young people will be placed in the most appropriate available establishment to meet their needs. Any decision is based on information provided by Youth Offending Teams, which the Youth Custody Service (YCS) works with to ensure the needs, risks and circumstances of each young person have been taken into account.A non-exhaustive list of factors that are considered when making a placement decision is set out in the YCS Placement Team guidance, which can be found at GOV.UK, via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/placing-young-people-in-custody-guide-for-youth-justice-practitioners.

Ministry of Justice: Innovation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants his Department employs to work on public service innovation.

Mike Freer: The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of staff in innovation roles.The Department is committed to enabling all parts of the organisation to embrace the innovative thinking that can deliver improvements in outcomes and value for money. Steps being taken to create the conditions for innovation to flourish in all parts of the MoJ include supporting the capability in our leadership team, ensuring that our structures and governance allow civil servants to approach problems in new ways and providing guidance and standards on how to pilot new ideas.Examples of the types of innovation being implemented include construction of the new prison at Full Sutton which is due to open in 2025 and will use around 70% less energy than HMP Five Wells and Fosse Way, and is the UK’s first all-electric prison, and the significant increase in the use of technology across the Department’s services, from remote parole and court hearings, to virtual prison visits, and a significant increase in virtual and hybrid meetings.

Ministry of Justice: Remote Working

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Civil Service headquarters occupancy data, updated on 1 June 2022, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of occupancy rates on his Department's performance during May 2023.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice has a hybrid working policy which allows staff to work away from the HQ building subject to business need. The occupancy level of the HQ building does not impact the ability of the Department to carry out its key functions.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2023 to Question 186306 on Office for Veterans' Affairs: Photography, what was the budget for the Cabinet Office Communications team in each of the last five financial years.

Alex Burghart: Setting out the budget may lead to inaccurate figures due to in-year budget changes. Instead, I can provide the actual spend. The Cabinet Office Communications team employs two Digital Media Officers who support all Ministers in the Department. This is an essential part of helping to explain the Department's policies and priorities to a wider audience, such budgets have existed under successive administrations. The budget for Communications team staff, including the two Digital Media Officers, is held by the Director of Communications and is accounted for in line with Cabinet Office personnel budget management processes.The total actual expenditure for the Cabinet Office Communications cost centre, for the periods in question is as follows: FYTotal expenditure (£)18/192,105,850.2319/202,018,372.9620/212,077,533.2021/222,124,742.3222/232,659,096.71

Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals were payments totalling £1,340.37 made for accommodation to The Capitol Hotel, Tokyo on (i) 14 November 2022 and (ii) 14 December 2022; and for what purpose that accommodation was required.

Jeremy Quin: Regarding the payment of £804.22 listed on 14 November 2022, that is, in fact, the date the final transaction was settled by the Cabinet Office. The payment was made in September 2022 and refers to accommodation purchased at the Capitol Hotel in Tokyo for one official for 3 nights. The purpose was to attend UK-Japan bilateral discussions.The spend of £536.15 made on the 14th December was cancelled and the department was not charged.

Enfield Council: Grants

Feryal Clark: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Government Grants Enfield Council has received funding from; and what the value was of each grant since December 2019.

Alex Burghart: The details of grant awards for the financial years 2019/20 to 2021/22 are published in the Government Grants Register, detailing the recipient and the value awarded.

Civil Service: Public Speaking

Clive Efford: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the guidelines on external speakers at civil service events drawn up by his Department in 2022.

Jeremy Quin: The Government People Group which sits within the Cabinet Office developed guidance for all Cross-Government Diversity networks seeking speakers, prior to inviting them to participate in Civil Service events. This is to adhere to the Civil Service Code and maintain impartiality.Updated guidance for all Cross-Government Diversity networks was published in the Houses of Parliament Library on 17th May 2023. There is no Civil Service wide guidance on checks for external speakers.

Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals was (i) £532.16 spent at The Capital Menlyn, Pretoria, on 5 October 2022; (ii) £577.18 spent at the Melia Bali, Indonesia, on 2 November 2022; and (iii) £547.15 spent at The Hotel Palace, Berlin, on 19 December 2022; and on each occasion, for what purpose was that accommodation required.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals were payments totalling £3,855.72 made for accommodation to The Four Seasons, Seattle on (i) 25 November 2022 and (ii) 7 December 2022; and for what purpose that accommodation was required.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals were payments totalling £12,878.83 made for accommodation to The Dupont Circle Hotel, Washington DC on (i) 25 November 2022 and (ii) 14-15 December 2022; and for what purpose that accommodation was required.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 in November 2022, if he will provide the location of the St Regis hotel at which £4,846.01 was spent on accommodation on 29 November 2022; for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals that accommodation was purchased; and for what purpose that accommodation was required.

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals were payments totalling £3,072.17 made for accommodation to The Sofitel Metropole, Hanoi, on (i) 24 October 2022, (ii) 25 November 2022 and (iii) 15 December 2022; and for what purpose that accommodation was required.

Jeremy Quin: The spends made between 5 October 2022 and 19 December 2022 were related to COP26 events. The team that incurred these costs has now been disbanded. To provide this information would exceed the threshold and incur a disproportionate cost to the Cabinet Office.

Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals was (i) £4,363 spent at The Kensington Hotel, on 7 November 2022 and (ii) £1,743.44 spent at A Taj Hotel, London, on 23 January 2023; and for what purpose was that accommodation required.

Jeremy Quin: Regarding the first payment for £4,363, although the payment is listed on 7 November 2022, that is, in fact, the date the final transaction was settled by the Cabinet Office. The payment was made in October 2022 and relates to ten members of staff who were supporting the delivery of events in relation to the funeral of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as part of a 24-hour government secretariat. Regarding the second payment for £1,743.44, again the payment date listed is the date the transaction was cleared from the Cabinet Office system. The payment was made in November and relates to two individuals accommodation for 5 nights in London w/c 5th December 2022. These staff were supporting the delivery of an Learning & Development event for senior civil servants as part of the Leadership College for Government offer for permanent secretaries, directors general and equivalents, called the Civil Service Leadership Group. There is a central contract in place for travel booking including an e-platform in order to provide easy price comparison, payment processing and reporting for staff travel and subsistence driving value for money for taxpayers. Occasionally it is necessary for staff to conduct separate searches for accommodation providers, to continue to achieve the best value during market driven surge pricing such as around major events.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Children

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of Universal Credit's two-child limit on trends of the level of children living in poverty.

Mims Davies: The Government firmly believes where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households. We have a range of employment support and advice available from our Work Coaches in Jobcentres to help people to be better off and become less reliant on benefits. Assessing the impacts of these policies would involve projecting forward every household’s income and individual circumstances which is not possible to do with confidence. DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents to progress. This requires a system that provides strong work incentives and key support for those who need it, but crucially also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer as many working families do not see their incomes rise when they have more children. Meanwhile, we can highlight that both rates and numbers of children in absolute poverty (60% of 2010/11 median income, both before and after housing costs) were lower in 2021/22 than in 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 400,000 fewer children in absolute low income after housing costs than in 2009/10.

Pensions: Consumer Information

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money was originally allocated to deliver the Pensions Dashboard; and what total costs have been incurred as of June 2023.

Laura Trott: To date MaPS has been allocated £91.1M for the delivery of the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) through the relevant Spending Review periods covering financial years 2019/20 to 2024/25.Expenditure allocations for years beyond 2024/25 will be the subject of future Spending Review processes.The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has spent £45.3M between 2019/20 and the end of May 2023 (with spend relating to 2022/23 and to 2023/24 subject to final audit).

State Retirement Pensions: Voluntary Contributions

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of his Department’s capacity to respond to correspondence on voluntary National Insurance contributions in time for the deadline of 31 July 2023.

Laura Trott: The DWP Futures Pension Centre has experienced unprecedented levels of contact from customers considering whether to pay voluntary National Insurance Contributions (VNICS) before the deadline. To ensure customers have the time and information to make an informed decision, HMRC announced it will extend the deadline to pay these contributions until 5 April 2025. DWP have redeployed additional resources and continue to review options to meet current demand and improve service. Furthermore, HMRC and the DWP are taking the opportunity through the extension period to make improvements to the digital service, with the intention that the majority of customers should be able to complete the process online. Further announcements will follow in due course.

Children: Maintenance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents paying child maintenance claim Universal Credit; and how many of them are in paid employment as of June 2023.

Mims Davies: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of December 2022, here. Monthly statistics on ‘People on Universal Credit’ including an employment indicator are available on StatXplore here. Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found here.

Children: Maintenance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason has there been an increase in the number of separated families that do not have a child maintenance agreement in place.

Mims Davies: Child Maintenance reforms aim to encourage co-operation and collaborative parenting between separated parents and to make their own family-based arrangements (FBAs) for child maintenance wherever possible. The statutory Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is available for those parents where they feel it is more appropriate for their circumstances.We need to acknowledge that an arrangement is not appropriate for every separated family, and research shows around half of those parents with no arrangement do not want one.Since the introduction of the 2012 reforms and the CMS, the number of separated families choosing to make FBAs has increased alongside the number with no arrangement. However, the number of separated families with no arrangement has continued to fall since the financial year ending 2017.

Department for Work and Pensions: Innovation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many officials his Department employs to work directly on public service innovation.

Mims Davies: The Department does not hold this information centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Children: Maintenance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money has the Child Maintenance Service received in collection fees from (a) paying and (b) receiving parents in each of the last five years.

Mims Davies: Income received from the Child Maintenance Service £20 Application fee for the last 5 years is as follows:   Application Fee2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22£m£m£m£m£m1.5100.9720.7490.6100.703 Application fees reduced due to the waiver introduced in cases of Domestic Abuse. Income received through collection charges for the last 5 years are: Paying Parent 2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/2220% Collection Charge£m£m£m£m£m16.87827.90534.77134.24838.527 Receiving Parent2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/224% Collection Charge£m£m£m£m£m3.2415.4306.7676.6957.494

Children: Maintenance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of child maintenance arrears from parents that pay through the Direct Pay system.

Mims Davies: The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) always encourages paying parents to pay their maintenance on time, in order to avoid accrual of arrears. Where a paying parent fails to pay on time or in full, it aims to take immediate action to recover the debt and re-establish compliance. Our strategy is to tackle breakdowns at the earliest opportunity and use preferred Method of Payments (Deductions of Earnings Orders/Direct Debits) which achieve a higher rate of compliance, whilst agreeing more sustainable ongoing payments. The CMS work with parents to provide affordable payment plans that keep maintenance flowing, offering due consideration to fluctuations in earnings and a significant proportion of Paying Parents who are on lower incomes. The CMS has a relatively low percentage of unpaid maintenance. Only 8% of the total maintenance due to be paid since the start of the CMS remains to be collected through Collect & Pay. This was as high as 17% in March 2015. The CMS do not hesitate to step in and move a case to collect & pay as soon as they are notified payments are not being made.  Around 3% of direct pay arrangements move to collect and pay each quarter – a small percentage but this shows that parents can and do move to collect and pay to secure help in getting their child maintenance payments.

Universal Credit: Childcare

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made a recent impact assessment on the payment of childcare costs through Universal Credit.

Guy Opperman: No such assessment has been made.

Jobcentres: Staff

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches were employed in Jobcentres as of 1 June in each month since 2018 in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Disability Employment Advisors were employed by his Department as of 1 June in each year since 2018 in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Guy Opperman: Data at constituency and borough level is not available. Relevant data for London Region is shown in the table below.  YearWork Coach - Full Time Staff EquivalentDisability Employment Adviser (DEA) - Full Time Staff Equivalent2018321069201930502202020400202149801202022380017020232770130Source: DWP’s internal Activity Based Model (ABM)  Notes:   Data is correct as of 1 June 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.Data for Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) do not include Work Coach Team Leaders. Number of DEAs was impacted during the Covid Pandemic.Figures were derived from the Department’s Activity Based Model (ABM), which provides Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figures based on point in time estimate by Line Managers. They cover only FTE of staff with paid employment. WCs have been rounded to the nearest 10.The number of Work Coaches is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal department use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard. As the Department holds the information, we have released it.

Employment: Disability

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability employment advisors there are in the UK; and how many of those advisors there are per job centre.

Tom Pursglove: There are currently over 770 Disability Employment Advisers in the UK. Disability Employment Adviser resource is allocated at district level and covers every Jobcentre in England, Scotland and Wales. We are ensuring that every Work Coach in every Jobcentre continues to have access to a Disability Employment Adviser.

Department for Education

Schools

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled More support to keep pupils in the classroom published on 2 January 2022, whether this guidance remains in place for schools.

Nick Gibb: The temporary measures outlined in the press release dated 2 January 2022 are no longer in place. The measures outlined were temporarily introduced to support and protect the return to face to face education.On 1 April 2022, the Government withdrew many pieces of specific COVID-19 pandemic guidance for schools and childcare services, as well as for other sectors. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a series of new public health guidance documents, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-guidance-sets-out-how-to-live-safely-with-covid-19.Given the low risk to children and young people, high levels of vaccination among the UK population, and a dominant variant that continues to be milder than in the past, there is no longer a need for specific COVID-19 pandemic guidance in school. Schools should follow the public health guidance set out by UKHSA on managing COVID-19 in line with other infectious diseases. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-guidance-sets-out-how-to-live-safely-with-covid-19.All schools should have infection prevention and control measures in place that will help to manage the spread of infection. These include ventilation, cleaning, and supporting routine immunisations for those eligible.The Department published Emergency Planning and Response guidance for schools, which sets out how schools should plan for and deal with emergencies, including the possibility of future significant public health incidents. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.

Free School Meals

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending free school meals to all families receiving Universal Credit.

Nick Gibb: Since 2010, the number of pupils receiving a free school meal (FSM) has increased by more than two million. This increase in provision is due to the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals and protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM, compared with one in six in 2010.The Department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables pupils in low income households to benefit from FSM while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The Department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM. The Department continues to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. The Department also continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments to provide support to disadvantaged families.

Children: Swimming

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to improve swimming rates among primary school children.

Nick Gibb: Swimming and water safety are compulsory in the primary National Curriculum for Physical Education (PE) and Sport.The PE and Sport Premium can be used by primary schools to support swimming and water safety lessons, including funding teacher training and additional swimming lessons for pupils not able to meet National Curriculum expectations after their PE and Sport lessons. On 8 March 2023, the Government announced a total of over £600 million across the next two academic years for the PE and Sport Premium.The Department also provides up to £300,000 a year to a consortium grant to improve opportunities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to take part in PE and Sport. This includes a focus on swimming and water safety. A new inclusion hub on the Swim England website has been created to provide resources for schools and swimming teachers.A range of swimming and water safety resources and guidance documents have been developed by sector organisations and are available online for teachers and parents.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the School staff instructor grant for schools with a Combined Cadet Force.

Nick Gibb: Funding for School Staff Instructors (SSI) was introduced to help support the sustainability of cadet units in schools, assist with the growth of cadet numbers, and support the Government’s ambition of having 60,000 cadets in school cadet units.The Department has not made a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of this element of the Government’s support for Combined Cadet Forces. In April 2022, the Ministry of Defence ‘Sponsored Cadet Forces’ statistics showed that there was an increase of 23% in adult volunteers and a 10% increase in the number of Cadets on Combined Cadet Forces in the year in which SSI funding was introduced. These statistics are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1077952/OS_MOD_Sponsored_Cadet_Forces_Statistics_April_2022.pdf.

Schools: Air Conditioning

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the roll out of measures to improve air filtration in schools as set out in January 2022.

Nick Gibb: Since 2021, the Department has delivered over 700,000 CO2 monitors to over 45,000 state funded schools and colleges, as well as early years settings and childminders operating in groups of four or more, and children’s homes that offer places to six or more children.The first phase of this programme began in September 2021 and supplied education providers with enough CO2 monitors for 50% of teaching and childcare spaces. The second phase began in December 2022 and ended in April 2023. It ensured all eligible providers received additional monitors for the remaining 50% of teaching and childcare spaces.For poorly ventilated teaching spaces in state funded schools where improvement to ventilation is not possible, the Department has provided over 9,000 air cleaning units (ACUs) to over 1,300 schools. The ACU programme began in January 2022 and was well received by schools, colleges and childcare providers. Applications were reopened in November 2022 to give providers another opportunity to receive a Department funded ACU for spaces with sustained high CO2 readings (1500ppm or more).All ACUs provided by the Department have met the minimum recommended technical specification for ACUs in education and childcare settings. Details are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1152803/HEPA_Specification_V0.9_.pdf. The Department’s technical specification was developed through consultation with industry wide experts in both air cleaning and ventilation, from academia, professional bodies and industry, including chartered engineers, scientists, and several Government Departments. Through this consultation, the Department has developed a specification focusing on key drivers including classroom size, acoustics, clean air delivery and filtration, as well as requiring strong evidence to verify manufacturers' claims.The application window for a Department funded ACU has now closed. The Department’s ‘Find a Framework’ service continues to supply education and childcare providers with a route to purchasing air cleaning units and replacement filters directly from suppliers. The service is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school.The Department has published guidance with linked resources to help schools and nurseries understand the need for good ventilation and how to make the most out of their devices. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.

CPR and Defibrillators: Education

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the implementation and effectiveness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator training in state-funded schools since its inclusion in the national curriculum in 2020.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the levels of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator training being taught in (a) privately funded schools and (b) higher and further education settings.

Nick Gibb: All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory Health Education, which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, including how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further defibrillator awareness and training materials to support this as part of the wider curriculum.In 2022, the Department announced it would provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to schools in England to plug local gaps and provide more schools and local communities access to first aid equipment. Since the start of the programme, over 9,300 devices have been delivered to state funded schools in England.The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of CPR and AED training in schools and is undertaking an evaluation of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) generally. The Department has contracted IFF Research to undertake quantitative and qualitative research into the quality of the implementation of RSHE, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. The Department anticipates that the final report from IFF Research will be published in early 2024. Details of the IFF Research contract are available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0cc4d6b1-d266-459e-aaee-f5e22e4ad4c6.As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including RSHE. Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate, and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would consider whether schools are teaching content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.Independent or fee paying schools are regulated by the Independent School Standards. Schools not meeting the Standards face regulatory action up to and including de-registration, or effective closure. Independent schools are not required by the Standards to provide CPR and AED training, so no such assessment has been made of the degree to which they do so. Independent schools are required to teach Health Education as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education and it is good practice to follow the statutory Health Education curriculum.Further education colleges and Higher Education Institutions are autonomous organisations and as such are responsible for matters of health and safety training in their organisations.

Further Education: Buildings

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to conduct a full survey of the condition of specialist post-16 college buildings; and what support is available to redress potential deficiencies in those buildings.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include specialist post-16 colleges in future FE capital funding schemes.

Robert Halfon: The further education (FE) Condition Data Collection and Condition Data Collection covers the statutory FE sector, namely FE corporations and sixth form college corporations. Specialist post-16 institutions (SPIs) are not part of the statutory FE sector and therefore are not covered by Condition Data Collection surveys.The department allocates condition funding to SPIs with ESFA-funded students to support them in keeping their buildings safe and well-maintained. In 2023/24, eligible SPIs were allocated £4,685,201 in school condition allocations (SCA) to invest in the condition of their buildings, and £831,874 in devolved formula capital for smaller capital projects.To receive SCA, an SPI must be in receipt of revenue funding from ESFA for the relevant financial year. SPIs can choose how they spend their school condition allocations on improving and maintaining the condition of their buildings.In 2022 to 2023, eligible schools and sixth-form colleges received an allocation from an additional £447 million of capital funding to improve buildings and facilities, prioritising energy efficiency. This was part of an additional £500 million of capital funding for schools and further education institutions in England. This funding was for institutions, including SPIs, that were eligible for devolved formula capital in 2022 to 2023.The Spending Review 2021 announced a £2.8 billion capital investment in skills to improve the condition of post-16 estate, provide new places in post-16 education, provide specialist equipment and facilities for T Levels and deliver the commitment to 21 Institutes of Technology across England. Future FE capital funding is subject to the next Spending Review. The department keeps the capital needs of all post-16 education providers under review.

Schools: Enfield

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department made available to Enfield Council through the School Condition Allocation in each of the last ten years in real terms.

Nick Gibb: Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Over £15 billion has been allocated since 2015 to improve the condition of the estate. In 2023/24, the Department has announced £1.8 billion for improving school buildings, including £1.1 billion in school condition allocations for Local Authorities, large multi-academy trusts and large Voluntary Aided bodies. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate.As part of this, Enfield Local Authority has been allocated a School Condition Allocation of £4,937,946 for the 2023/24 financial year to spend in maintained schools. Large multi-academy trusts and large Voluntary Aided school bodies with schools in Enfield will also have been allocated a School Condition Allocation to spend on their school buildings, whilst smaller and single academy trusts were invited to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund, with outcomes now published on GOV.UK including four schools in the Enfield Local Authority area.Schools maintained by Enfield Local Authority have also been allocated £435,674 in devolved formula capital to spend on their own capital priorities, whilst schools in the Local Authority across all types of responsible body have been allocated £1,227,483.As well as allocating condition funding, the Department also delivers major rebuilding programmes to improve or replace school buildings. Five schools have been announced in the School Rebuilding Programme, which will transform buildings at those schools by rebuilding or refurbishing poor condition blocks, providing modern designs which are net zero carbon in operation. In addition, four schools within the Enfield Local Authority were included in the Priority School Building Programme.It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between annual allocations over time as the methodology used, number of pupils/schools funded and data on the condition of those schools changes over time. It is worth noting that Enfield has seen a significant drop of approximately 40% in the number of schools for which it is responsible over the last ten years.

Department for Education: Taiwan

Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of the Government of Taiwan in each of the last five years.

Robert Halfon: The UK has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It has a strong, unofficial relationship based on deep and growing ties in a wide range of areas, underpinned by shared democratic values. The department had discussions with representatives of the Taiwan administration in 2022.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Energy Bills Rebate

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Support for Energy Bills Council Tax Rebate Scheme.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Covid 20-21 Tax Income Guarantee Scheme.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Improved Better Care Fund.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Social Care Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Sales, Fees and Charges Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Estate Regeneration Fund.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the New Homes Bonus Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Homelessness Prevention Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Independent Living Fund.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made on the effectiveness of the Supporting Families Programme.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Additional Compensation for Supplementary Multiplier Income Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Covid-19 Shielding Support Grant..

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Localising Council Tax Admin Subsidy Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Rough Sleeping Initiative.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Business Rates Section 31 Grant Reconciliations.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Lower Tier Services Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Help to Buy Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Ukraine Welcome Point Funding Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Redmond Review Implementation Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Protect and Vaccinate Programme Grant.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Planning Delivery Fund Grant.

Lee Rowley: The Government is committed to ensuring tax payers money is spent effectively. All departmental expenditure is made in line with the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Green Book, and we regularly consider the performance of programmes to ensure they are delivering for communities across the country.Also, in November 2022, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published its first evaluation strategy, which sets out our commitment to undertake and learn from evaluation activity across our policy areas. It outlines evaluation activity that is already underway and future plans. The annexes provide a list of ongoing and planned work, as well as a list of published evaluations. In addition, we are listing all new commissioned research projects, from January 2023 on gov.uk website, and aim to publish completed research outputs promptly on gov.uk.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Innovation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many officials his Department employs to work directly on public service innovation.

Dehenna Davison: Innovation is at the heart of our vision for a modern civil service, in particular finding new ways to solve problems and improve people’s lives, and seizing the full potential of data and technology.All officials are expected to contribute to public service innovation, whether through the policy they develop or in the services they deliver. This work can range from supporting continuous improvement to leading more radical transformation.

Land: Registration

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance standards of HM Land Registry in providing the service for the registration of land for the first time.

Rachel Maclean: Applications to register land for the first time account for approximately 0.3% of all applications HM Land Registry (HMLR) receives and are one of its most complex application types. HMLR publishes information on GOV.UK about its latest processing times here.Currently, half of first registration applications are completed in just over 13 months, and almost all are completed in just over 14 months. A small number can take longer, depending on the application details. Any application that is urgent can be expedited free of charge and 95% of these are completed within 10 days.Improving speed of service is the top priority for HMLR and it is addressing this urgently through a combination of recruitment, training, and automation. It also has specialist teams focussing on the oldest complex cases with a specific goal to reduce the processing times for these applicationsFurther to the Prime Minister’s written statement of 23 May 2023 (HCWS803) sponsorship of HM Land Registry and its associated bodies has moved to DLUHC. This will aid the delivery of DLUHC’s key policy objectives including improving the home buying and selling process and delivering the land transparency provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the new funding scheme for remediation or mitigation of the fire safety risks linked to external wall system defects on medium rise (11–18 metres) buildings will be extended to all buildings.

Lee Rowley: Schemes to cover buildings over 18m have been in place for some time; an increasing number of properties are undergoing and completing remediation. A pilot for 11-18m buildings has been underway since late 2022, and has recently been expanded in scope; we anticipate a full opening in the months ahead.

Leasehold: Service Charges

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what action he is taking to help support leaseholders to contest charges levied by property management companies.

Rachel Maclean: We are committed to better protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on the things for which their charges pay. We will legislate to ensure service charges are transparent and communicated effectively, removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong. This will help leaseholders more effectively challenge their landlord if they consider their fees are unreasonable. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.

Building Regulations: Letter Boxes

Vicky Ford: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution on Amendment 476 of 22 May 2023 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Faith and Communities and Lords Minister) in Lords Committee Stage of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, Lords Official Report column 710, what progress his Department has made on including the recommended height for letter boxes into statutory guidance; and when he plans to (a) introduce and (b) implement that guidance.

Lee Rowley: We will give an update on this important matter in due course.

Flats: Insulation

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure those seeking mortgages are not required to produce an EWS1 form for buildings under 11 metres for lending purposes.

Lee Rowley: There is no statutory requirement for an EWS1 form to be provided to support a mortgage application. Not all lenders will require an EWS1 form and where appropriate, customers should approach multiple finance providers to access the best commercial offering from the market.Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, in properties that are under 11m tall, we would not expect any building safety defects that would cause a risk to life, because it is generally accepted that risk to life is proportional to the height of buildings. Therefore, the lack of an EWS1 should not present a barrier to lending.

Local Enterprise Partnerships: Grants

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many grants have been made by Local Enterprise Partnerships to video game businesses.

Dehenna Davison: The Government does not centrally collate information on Local Enterprise Partnership grants.

Thames Freeport: DP World

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department last met representatives of DP World to discuss the proposal for that company to co-run the Thames Freeport.

Dehenna Davison: Details of ministerial meetings are published on gov.uk.DLUHC officials met with several of the Thames Freeport partners, including a representative from DP World, on 16 May 2023 to discuss operational matters related to the delivery of customs sites within the Thames Freeport.

Treasury

Treasury: Darlington

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the civil servants working for his Department at the Darlington Economic Campus were (a) civil servants prior to their deployment to the campus, and (b) new recruits to the civil service.

Gareth Davies: Whilst the information requested is not publicly available, we will publish information on civil servants working at the Darlington Economic Campus in HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 in July 2023.

Treasury: Darlington

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of his Department's civil servants working at the Darlington Economic Campus were (a) recruited locally and (b) relocated from London.

Gareth Davies: Whilst the information requested is not publicly available, we will publish information on civil servants working at the Darlington Economic Campus in HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 in July 2023.

Business: Insurance

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the data collected by the Financial Conduct Authority on affected insurers and the progress of their non-damage business interruption insurance claims, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Financial Conduct Authority and (b) insurance companies on outstanding claims where an offer of final settlement has either not (i) been made, (ii) accepted by the policyholder and (iii) paid in full; and what steps he is taking to ensure these cases are resolved in a timely manner.

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on discussions with the insurance industry to agree specific conditions for forms of Government support that should not be taken into account when calculating business interruption insurance claims.

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the average increase in insurance premiums for small businesses in the last two years; and what assessment he has made of the impact of increases in insurance premiums on small businesses.

Andrew Griffith: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel.Under the independent Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules, insurers are required to handle claims fairly and promptly and settle claims quickly once settlement terms are agreed. The FCA has also outlined that all deductions from business interruption insurance settlements should be assessed on a case-by-case basis as policies differ significantly. The FCA may intervene and take further actions where firms do not appear to be meeting their expectations. Policyholders who feel that their claim has not been handled fairly may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases. The information requested on business insurance premiums is not held. The Government works closely with the FCA and insurers to support businesses who are under pressure from the rising cost of living. The Government recognises the impact of increased costs on small businesses and has taken unprecedented action to protect millions of businesses, including the Recovery Loan Scheme, which has been extended until June 2024, cutting business rates by 75% for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in 2022-23, support via the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, and increasing the Employment Allowance to £5,000.

Hospitality Industry and Tourism: VAT

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing VAT to 5 per cent for hospitably businesses for (a) tourism and (b) hospitality.

Victoria Atkins: Since the start of the pandemic, over £37 billion has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks. VAT is the UK's third largest tax forecast to raise £161 billion in 2023/2024, helping to fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS, education and defence. The previous VAT relief for tourism and hospitality cost over £8 billion and reintroducing it would come at a significant further cost. While there are no plans to reduce the rate of VAT paid by hospitality businesses, the Government keeps all taxes under review.

Hospitality Industry: VAT

Claire Hanna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing VAT for the hospitality sector.

Victoria Atkins: Since the start of the pandemic, over £37 billion has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks. VAT is the UK's third largest tax forecast to raise £161 billion in 2023/2024, helping to fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS, education and defence. The previous VAT relief for tourism and hospitality cost over £8 billion and reintroducing it would come at a significant further cost. While there are no plans to reduce the rate of VAT paid by hospitality businesses, the Government keeps all taxes under review.

Treasury: Darlington

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on securing a lease for a permanent Darlington Economic Campus at Brunswick House; and when he expects that site to open.

Gareth Davies: We announced on the 26 July 2022 that the Brunswick Street site would be the permanent home of the economic campus. Since then, the Government Property Agency have been working to finalise the commercial negotiations on the site.

Cost of Living and Mental Health Services: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of demand for financial and mental health support from families in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The government recognises the challenges facing households due to elevated costs of living, so took action at Spring Budget 2023 to go further to protect struggling families. This included interventions such as extending energy support by keeping the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for three months from April, saving households an additional £160, ending the premium paid by over 4 million households using prepayment meters across the UK, introducing 30 hours of free childcare per week for working parents with children aged 9 months up to 3 years in England, cancelling the planned increase in fuel duty and keeping rates at current levels for the next 12 months, and increasing Draught Relief. This is in addition to the benefits uprating and support for vulnerable households announced at the Autumn Statement. Taken together, support to households to help with higher bills is worth £94 billion, or £3,300 per household on average, across 2022-23 and 2023-24. It is for Integrated Care Systems to plan and deliver joined up health and care services to improve the lives of people who live and work in their area, including assessments of demand for mental health support, based on the specifics needs of the local population. However, the government remains dedicated to ensuring commissioners continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard, with investment in NHS mental health services having increased each year from almost £11 billion in 2015/16 to £15 billion in 2021/22. Furthermore, the recently published Plan for Patients set out the Government’s intention to continue to drive progress on the NHS Long Term Plan commitments to expand and transform NHS mental health services. The NHS Long Term Plan having seen at least £2.3 billion extra funding a year for mental health services by 2023/24 – supporting an additional two million people in England to access NHS-funded mental health services.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of employees in each regional centre of the Criminal Investigations Unit of HMRC have declared their ethnic origin as Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC requests that staff voluntarily and confidentially record their ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, gender identity and carer details. The recording of diversity information is not mandatory, but we ask all HMRC employees to consider the reasons why diversity information is important for individuals and the Organisation. As a responsible employer, HMRC need to make sure that their policies and procedures do not discriminate against any particular group. HMRC do not publish the information in the form requested. The ethnicity data that HMRC do publish is available in the Public Sector Equality Duty annual compliance report HMRC: Public Sector Equality Duty compliance 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and in the Annual Report & Accounts HMRC annual report and accounts: 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Treasury: Darlington and Greater London

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are based full-time in (a) London and (b) the Darlington Economic Campus.

Gareth Davies: Information on the number and proportion of roles in the Darlington Economic Campus will be published in HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 in July 2023.

Treasury: Darlington

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many civil servants are based full time at the Darlington Economic Campus at grades (a) Administrative Officer/Administrative Assistant, (b) Executive Officer, (c) Senior Executive Officer/Higher Executive Officer, (d) Grade 7, (e) Grade 6, (f) Senior Civil Servant 1, (g) Senior Civil Servant 2, and (h) Senior Civil Servant 3.

Gareth Davies: The Darlington Economic Campus comprises of the following civil service departments and agencies, HM Treasury, Department for Business and Trade, Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Office for National Statistics, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Competition and Markets Authority, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. HM Treasury does not hold the information requested by grade across the campus.

Cost of Living and Mental Health Services: Hampshire

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of demand for financial and mental health support from families in Hampshire; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The government recognises the challenges facing households due to elevated costs of living, so took action at Spring Budget 2023 to go further to protect struggling families. This included interventions such as extending energy support by keeping the Energy Price Guarantee at £2,500 for three months from April, saving households an additional £160, ending the premium paid by over 4 million households using prepayment meters across the UK, introducing 30 hours of free childcare per week for working parents with children aged 9 months up to 3 years in England, cancelling the planned increase in fuel duty and keeping rates at current levels for the next 12 months, and increasing Draught Relief. This is in addition to the benefits uprating and support for vulnerable households announced at the Autumn Statement. Taken together, support to households to help with higher bills is worth £94 billion, or £3,300 per household on average, across 2022-23 and 2023-24. It is for Integrated Care Systems to plan and deliver joined up health and care services to improve the lives of people who live and work in their area, including assessments of demand for mental health support, based on the specifics needs of the local population. However, the government remains dedicated to ensuring commissioners continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard, with investment in NHS mental health services having increased each year from almost £11 billion in 2015/16 to £15 billion in 2021/22. Furthermore, the recently published Plan for Patients set out the Government’s intention to continue to drive progress on the NHS Long Term Plan commitments to expand and transform NHS mental health services. The NHS Long Term Plan having seen at least £2.3 billion extra funding a year for mental health services by 2023/24 – supporting an additional two million people in England to access NHS-funded mental health services.

Iron and Steel: Carbon Emissions

Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism on the UK steel industry.

Gareth Davies: The government is continuing to assess the potential impact of the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on UK businesses, including the steel industry, and is engaging with UK businesses on this. As the UK has an ambitious carbon pricing system through our Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and Carbon Price Support mechanism, we expect the EU CBAM to take account of this in its implementation. Full details of the EU CBAM will be known when the EU adopt the required implementing and delegated acts. UK officials are continuing to closely monitor this process and are waiting to see these before building a full understanding of potential impacts on UK businesses.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Pakistan: Human Rights

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Pakistani counterparts on allegations of (a) arbitrary detentions, (b) violent human rights violations, (c) torture of political prisoners and (d) targeting of journalists committed by Pakistani security forces.

Leo Docherty: We are aware of reports of detainments and human rights violations in Pakistan and continue to monitor the situation closely. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, spoke to the High Commissioner for Pakistan to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, on 9 May and to Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on 10 and 13 May, where he emphasised the importance of peaceful democratic rights, including the right to protest, adherence to the rule of law, and transparency in legal processes. Where there are allegations of human rights violations, we expect these to be fully investigated in line with international human rights law.

World Bank: Investment

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what account the UK Executive Director of the World Bank has taken of the rights of farmers to save, share, exchange and sell seeds under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in voting on World Bank investments.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The World Bank does not have a policy that restricts farmers' choices. The Bank advocates the use of quality seeds. It is important that farmers have access to modern seed varieties and to traditional varieties. An efficient national agricultural innovation system, an effective seed certification system, aligned with regulated well-functioning seed markets which enable farmers to select new seed varieties that meet their demand, is essential to meet the challenges agriculture faces in many developing countries. We are supporting this longer-term goal to do both, boost food security, incomes, and climate adaptation and resilience, thereby supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Pakistan: Politics and Government

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his counterpart in Pakistan on (a) the postponement of elections and (b) the arrest of the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

Leo Docherty: The UK has a longstanding and close relationship with Pakistan. We are aware of the arrest of Imran Khan on 9 May and his subsequent release. We continue to monitor the situation closely. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, spoke to the High Commissioner for Pakistan to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, on 9 May and to Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on 10 and 13 May, where he emphasised the importance of peaceful democratic rights, including the right to protest, adherence to the rule of law and transparency in legal processes.

Developing Countries: Chemicals

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the World Bank’s support for subsidies for chemical fertiliser and pesticides in developing countries on the Government’s net zero commitments.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The World Bank has helped protect farmers in developing countries from the global impacts of fertiliser shortages which protected local production and food security. While this necessarily included access to traditional fertilisers, the World Bank introduced innovations to reduce fertiliser dependency. To support a transition away from carbon-intensive fertiliser usage in the future, the World Bank is planning major investments in green fertiliser production. The World Bank has committed to full alignment of all its sovereign lending with the Paris Agreement by 1 July 2023. They have also committed through the COP26 MDB Joint Nature Statement to mainstream nature in their policies, investments and operations, including developing a joint methodology for tracking 'nature positive' investments. We are holding the Bank to account on these commitments through the Board.

Developing Countries: Food Supply

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support farmer seed systems to help ensure food security in the Global South.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The FCDO supports the global research organisation, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), to support seed systems to improve access of smallholder farmers to more productive and climate-resilient varieties. The CGIAR builds capacity of national research and extension systems and seed organisations to ensure uptake of public-bred varieties and other innovations. The FCDO also supports the operation of the CGIAR genebanks that hold over 700,000 crop varieties, making these available free of charge to support the development of new crop varieties. The genebanks are managed jointly with the Global Crop Diversity Trust and in line with the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. In 2021 CGIAR distributed almost 100,000 samples to users, 50% of which were to developing countries.

Taiwan: Geopolitics

Sir Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Rhodium Group report entitled The Global Economic Disruptions from a Taiwan Conflict, published on14 December 2022, what assessment he has made of the impact of a potential blockade or invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China on the UK economy; and if he will make a statement.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. As the Foreign Secretary set out in his Mansion House speech, no country could shield itself from the economic repercussions should peace and stability fail in the Taiwan Strait. It's therefore essential that no party takes unilateral action to change the status quo.

Pakistan: Democracy and Human Rights

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Pakistan on (a) respecting the fundamental human rights of its citizens and (b) upholding democratic values.

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations his Department has received from human rights organisations on reports of alleged human rights violations in Pakistan.

Leo Docherty: We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Pakistan closely. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, spoke to the High Commissioner for Pakistan to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, on 9 May and to Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on 10 and 13 May, where he emphasised the importance of peaceful democratic rights, including the right to protest, adherence to the rule of law and transparency in legal processes. Where there are allegations of human rights violations, we expect these to be fully investigated in line with international human rights law.

Development Aid

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much official development assistance has been disbursed under the Rapid Response Facility in each of the last five years.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO's Rapid Response Facility has activated once in the last five years. This provided £18 million of Official Development Assistance for humanitarian responses to COVID-19 between May 2020 to January 2021.

Uk Internal Trade: Northern Ireland

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2023 to Question 170553 on UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland, when his Department plans to publish further guidance on arrangements for those using the transit procedure to move goods from Wales to Northern Ireland through the Republic of Ireland using the green lane.

Leo Docherty: We have delivered a new Green Lane which means that goods staying in the UK will be freed of unnecessary paperwork, checks and duties when they move into Northern Ireland. The Green Lane is open to all UK businesses where they import or sell goods that are not ultimately destined for the EU market. This will include goods travelling from Wales to Northern Ireland through the Republic of Ireland using the transit procedure, as the processes otherwise applied for goods imported into the Republic of Ireland are a matter for the Irish Government.The Government has recently published further detail on the operation of the green lane and the full set of easements that will apply from 30 September 2024 [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-windsor-framework-goods-movements-general]. As set out in that update, we will continue to provide further information, ensuring businesses have adequate time to prepare for the new arrangements.

Australia: Foreign Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held meetings with the Agents-General of Australia in the last 12 months.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon joined a reception with the Victorian Agent General and Governor on 4 August 2022. There have been no other meetings with Australian Agents General in the last 12 months.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Public Buildings: Carbon Emissions

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress he has made on reducing emissions from public buildings.

Graham Stuart: Recently published national statistics on greenhouse gas emissions are for the year 2021. These show a 2% reduction in public sector emissions against a 2017 baseline. Progress on Net Zero Strategy commitments will be published shortly.

Public Buildings: Energy Performance Certificates

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many (a) schools (b) hospitals and (c) other public buildings meet the threshold for the 2030 minimum B EPC rating for non-domestic buildings.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what percentage of (a) schools (b) hospitals and (c) other public buildings need to be retrofitted to meet the 2030 B EPC minimum threshold.

Graham Stuart: This data is not reported for public sector buildings. The Government’s proposed approach is for all non-domestic private rented buildings to reach the highest EPC band deliverable by a cost-effective package of measures or reach EPC B by 2030.

Carbon Emissions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the progress made towards meeting the UK's net zero target.

Graham Stuart: The Government has published Powering Up Britain, which contained a Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, setting the UK on course to reach Net Zero by 2050. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that it is on track to meet the third. Taken together, the Net Zero Strategy pathways for every sector of the UK economy keep the UK on track for Carbon Budgets 4, 5 and 6, the UK's 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution, and ultimately for net zero by 2050.

Energy: Allowances

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a universal basic energy allowance.

Graham Stuart: No assessments have been made. The Energy Price Guarantee is providing support to households by reducing the amount charged per unit of gas or electricity until the end of June 2023 to an equivalent of £2,500 per year for a typical household, then increasing to £3,000 per year for a typical household until March 2024. In addition, with the Energy Bills Support Scheme the Government has covered nearly half a typical household’s energy bill with a typical household saving around £1,500. The Government has committed to consult on a new approach as it explores possible approaches to consumer protection from April 2024.

Carbon Emissions: Video Games

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what grants are available to games businesses to help those businesses support the Government's net zero targets.

Graham Stuart: The Government is keeping energy efficiency support for all non-domestic organisations under review. Existing initiatives which may be applicable include an exemption on business rates for green technology and providing grants under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. The Government is reviewing what additional levers can be introduced to help organisations to be more energy efficient, including financial support. As part of this, the Government has launched a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce to help achieve its target to reduce energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030.

Energy: Meters

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to ensure that households on prepayment meters are prioritised for the roll out of (a) heat pumps and (b) other low cost energy sources.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is worth £1 billion per year and is focused on low income and vulnerable households, providing energy efficiency and heating measures, regardless of whether they use a prepayment meter or not. Other targeted schemes include the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG), the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

Solar Power: Parking

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to mandate the installation of solar panels in car parks over a certain capacity to increase the UK's renewable energy generation.

Graham Stuart: The Government is looking to facilitate and promote extensive deployment of rooftop solar on industrial and commercial property in order to make maximum usage of available surfaces for business as well as environmental and climate benefits.The Government will consider how else to extend deployment further, including with solar car parks.

Energy Bills Rebate

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to take steps to help eligible households access Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding past the deadline for applications.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding closed to new applications on 31 May 2023. Individuals that need additional support with an application they have submitted before the scheme closed to new applications can call the contact centre helpline on 08081753287 (08081753894 for Northern Ireland) where a representative can provide further assistance.

Energy Bills Rebate: Applications

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to reopen applications for the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding closed to new applications on 31 May, and the department does not plan to re-open the scheme. The government believes that the 3-month time window provided sufficient time for eligible households to apply for their £400 support.

Energy Bills Rebate

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2023 to Question 185610 on Energy Bills Rebate, when officials will complete this work; and when groups without a permanent address will know whether they can claim Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding.

Amanda Solloway: The Government cannot provide a precise date at which officials will complete their work to establish if there is a robust method for these households to provide proof of eligibility, whilst protecting public funds, so they can claim the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding. The Government is working to resolve this issue and will communicate this decision with key stakeholder associations who represent these households when it has been made.

Energy: Business

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180257 on Energy: Business, what steps his Department is taking to support business which do not meet the criteria for the Energy Bills Discount Scheme with their energy bills.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides a baseline discount to all eligible businesses and non-domestic customers. The discount is subject to a wholesale price threshold of £107/MWh for gas and £302/MWh for electricity. Businesses experiencing energy costs below this level will not receive support. The EBDS discount is comparably lower than the Energy Bill Relief Scheme discount and reflects the significant fall in energy prices since last September whilst striking the right balance by supporting businesses over the next year, ensuring fiscal responsibility and limiting the taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets. The Government has extended support comparable to the EBDS to non-domestic energy customers who receive gas or electricity delivered over public networks from non-licensed providers.

Geothermal Energy: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the suitability of (a) York and (b) North Yorkshire as a location for geothermal energy production.

Graham Stuart: The British Geological Survey conducted in 2020 identified York and Harrogate as being among the local authorities with the highest likely deep geothermal potential. The Government does not specify geographic locations to industry but developers working in York and North Yorkshire will be eligible to participate in allocation round six of the Contracts for Difference scheme when it opens.

Coal: Mining

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish production and manpower returns showing how much coal was extracted (a) on the surface and (b) underground in each county in (i) England and (ii) Wales in each month between January and April 2023; for what reason the UK Coal Authority has not yet published this information for the first quarter of 2023; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: The January to March figures are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coal-mining-production-and-manpower-returns-statistics-2023. These will be published on a quarterly basis hereafter.

Electricity and Fuels: Video Games

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what fuel and electricity subsidies are available to businesses in the video games industry.

Amanda Solloway: Like other businesses, the video games industry benefited from Energy Bill Relief Scheme support and will continue to be provided a baseline discount under Energy Bills Discount Scheme if eligible.The Government is also supporting UK SMEs in dealing with cost-of-living pressures by cutting fuel duty for 12 months as well as helping businesses with £6bn of investment in energy efficiency. The Government would encourage all businesses to do what they can to improve their energy efficiency.

Geothermal Energy: Costs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of geothermal energy production in comparison to (a) nuclear energy, (b) hydrogen energy and (c) renewable energy production.

Graham Stuart: A direct comparison of costs against the three comparators has not been undertaken but there is data available on the costs of electricity generation, hydrogen and geothermal on GOV.UK.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

STEM Subjects: Young People

Anthony Mangnall: What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to encourage young people into STEM jobs.

Paul Scully: We are delivering on the Science and Technology Framework’s vision to support a world-class STEM workforce.We support schemes that encourage young people into STEM jobs including the STEM Ambassadors programme which has over 30,000 volunteers who go out to schools across the UK, inspiring young people to consider careers in research.    And the British Science Association’s CREST awards, the largest and longest running project-based science engagement programme in the UK.

Semiconductors

Dave Doogan: What discussions she has had with industry bodies on implementation of the National semiconductor strategy.

Paul Scully: The Government’s new National Semiconductor Strategy sets out an ambitious vision for the sector and was developed through extensive engagement with industry and academia, including TechUK, Institute of Physics and TechWorks.We are committed to strengthening this cooperation as we implement the strategy, including through a new Semiconductor Advisory Panel.This will bring together key industry figures to provide advice and create shared plans as we strive to realise our vision.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Mr Philip Hollobone: If she will take steps to improve rural connectivity in (a) Kettering constituency, (b) North Northamptonshire and (c) England.

Sir John Whittingdale: I am pleased that 89 percent of premises in the Kettering constituency and 85 percent of premises in North Northamptonshire can access gigabit-capable broadband. To improve this further, we have launched a £52 million procurement as part of Project Gigabit, to deliver gigabit-capable connections to rural premises across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes. We aim to award a contract to the successful supplier by the end of this year. In April, we published a 10-point action plan to improve rural connectivity. We are already delivering on that plan through the appointment of Simon Fell MP as Rural Connectivity Champion.

Horizon Europe

Mr Ben Bradshaw: What recent progress she has made on securing the UK's association to Horizon Europe.

Chloe Smith: We are moving forward with discussions on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe. We hope negotiations will be successful, and that is our preference.But the terms must work for UK researchers, businesses and taxpayers and reflect the lasting impact of two years of EU delays to the UK’s association.If we are unable to associate, we will implement our bold, ambitious alternative to Horizon Europe, Pioneer.

Science and Technology

Chris Green: What steps her Department is taking to advance the UK's role in the science and technology sector.

Paul Scully: In March,the Government published the Science and Technology Framework. This details our strategic vision for how to make the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.The Framework sets out the steps required to attract investment, grow UK companies, innovate successfully and safely, and deploy our world class science and technology research base for good.We have already announced investment of £900million in exascale computing, £2.5billion over 10 years in quantum technologies and a £1billion semiconductor strategy.

Animal Experiments

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she will provide further funding to support the scientific community in transitioning from animal-based research to (a) organ-on-a-chip, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) other human-specific methodologies.

Paul Scully: The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) continues to provide core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies. UKRI funds a portfolio of research projects involving humans, human materials, animal models, and non-animal technologies, including a joint £4.7 million joint funding call with the NC3Rs launched last year, focussed on supporting next generation non-animal technologies, such as organ-on-a-chip.

Laboratories

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2023 to Question 185591 on Science: Laboratories, what proportion of the £500 million for research and innovation infrastructure has been invested in affordable lab space, and whether her Department has a measurable target to increase laboratory (a) availability and (b) infrastructure.

Paul Scully: The UKRI Infrastructure Fund (c. £500m over the Spending Review period) invests in significant upgrades and new investments in step changes for research and innovation infrastructure. This investment does not directly fund commercial lab space, but does support the public R&D system’s collaboration with innovative industry, including infrastructures that support clusters like Daresbury and Harwell. We work with UKRI and other public bodies to support investment in existing and new infrastructure, including ongoing work as part of the S&T framework to develop a national plan for investment which aims to improve access to digital and physical infrastructure.

Horizon Europe

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to extend the Horizon Europe guarantee beyond the end of June 2023.

George Freeman: On the 8 June 2023, the Government announced an extension to the Horizon Europe Guarantee, it will cover all Horizon Europe grant calls that close on or before 30 September 2023. Our priority remains to support the UK R&D sector by providing the funding for existing applicants and as the end of May 2023, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) has issued over 2,000 Grant Offer Letters for grant awards of £1.10 billion.

Life Sciences: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department has taken to help increase the number of life sciences companies in Scotland.

George Freeman: Through the Life Sciences Vision, we are committed to growing the life sciences sector across the country. We have delivered a range of programmes open to companies across the UK, including the Medicines and Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund (MDMTF) in 2021, the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF) in 2022, and the Biomanufacturing Fund announced on 26 May this year. We appointed a Life Sciences Investment Envoy, Dan Mahony, to boost investment in companies looking to grow and are working with the Treasury on the Long-term Investment For Technology and Science (LIFTS) initiative to crowd-in investment and grow the sector.

Counter Disinformation Unit

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Counter Disinformation Unit provides information on guests invited to speak to civil servants in his Department under the guidance introduced by the Cabinet Office in 2022.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Counter Disinformation Unit enforces the Cabinet Office guidelines on external speakers at civil service events.

Paul Scully: The Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) leads HMG’s operational and policy response to understand and counter disinformation and attempts to manipulate the information environment, with the potential for harm to domestic audiences. It helps the Government understand disinformation narratives and trends and does not monitor or provide information on individuals.The 2022 guidelines on external speakers were developed for all Cross-Government Diversity networks and Cabinet Office Events, and as such do not relate to the work of the CDU

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Artificial Intelligence

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in her Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period of which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on these issues in the latest period of which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.

Paul Scully: The AI White Paper emphasised the importance of ensuring that our regulators and public bodies have the capacity, expertise, and capabilities to implement our pro-innovation approach whilst recognising and understanding the risks. This is particularly true for those regulators for which AI falls squarely within their regulatory remit, but also applies to a much wider range of public and regulatory bodies considering the implications AI has across the economy.The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is the sponsoring department for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the Office for Communications (Ofcom), the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), and the Phone Paid Services Authority. Activity related to AI is carried out as part of wider activity that falls within each organisation’s remit, and this presents a challenge with disaggregating 'AI resource' in order to provide figures on the proportion of budget spent and staff working on AI regulation.The ICO and Ofcom in particular have already taken significant steps to upskill themselves to understand new technologies and new business models, and develop and deploy new skills and regulatory tools. This includes their joint efforts via the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to develop their collective capabilities through knowledge exchange and joint work on cross-cutting topics. IPO continue to focus on AI reflecting the significant implications it has for areas falling within their remit - and are resourcing this work accordingly.As part of the AI regulation White Paper consultation, we are engaging closely with regulators across the wider landscape and their sponsoring government departments to understand the organisational capacity they need to regulate AI effectively, across technical, regulatory, and market-specific expertise. This will inform our work to develop policy options with a view to addressing any gaps that emerge.

Artificial Intelligence

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of potential risks of emerging AI technologies; and if she will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The AI Regulation White Paper proposes a proportionate, collaborative approach to AI regulation, and aims to promote innovation while protecting the UK’s values. Our approach is designed to ensure the Government is able to adapt and respond to the risks and opportunities that emerge as the technology develops at pace.The Government is also working with international partners to understand emerging technologies and AI trends, while promoting the UK’s values, including through key multilateral fora, such as the OECD, the G7, the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), the Council of Europe, and UNESCO, and through bilateral relationships.The AI regulation white paper proposes a range of new central functions, including a horizon scanning function intended to support the anticipation assessment of emerging risks. This will complement the existing work undertaken by regulators and other government departments to identify and address risks arising from AI.As set out in the white paper, the Government will continue to convene a wide range of stakeholders - including frontier researchers from industry - to ensure that we hear the full spectrum of viewpoints.

Department for Transport

Department of Transport: Hacking

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether information classified as secret or above was accessed without permission following thefts of electronic devices belonging to his Department in the last 12 months.

Jesse Norman: No.

Active Travel: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit Office’s report on Active Travel in England, HC1376, Session 2022-23, what assessment he has made of the economic impact of the £233 million reduction in active travel funding announced in March 2023 on the trends in the level of active travel undertaken.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to National Audit Office’s report entitled Active Travel in England, HC1376, Session 2022-23, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that his Department is not expected to achieve three of its four 2025 objectives for increasing active travel; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Department welcomes the report and will consider its recommendations carefully. The Department will provide its formal response following the scheduled Public Accounts Committee hearing.

Active Travel

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Active Travel in England, published on 7 June 2023; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Department welcomes the report and will consider its recommendations carefully. The Department will provide its formal response following the scheduled Public Accounts Committee hearing.

Department for Transport: Artificial Intelligence

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government's publication A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, published on 29 March 2023, how much and what proportion of the budget of each regulator in their Department was spent on regulation of artificial intelligence in the latest period for which information is available; how many staff in each regulator worked (a) wholly and (b) partly on those issues in the latest period for which information is available; and whether those regulators plan to increase resources for their work on artificial intelligence.

Jesse Norman: The AI White Paper emphasised the importance of ensuring that UK regulators and public bodies have the capacity, expertise, and capabilities to implement government’s pro-innovation approach whilst recognising and understanding the risks. This is particularly true for those regulators for which AI falls squarely within their regulatory remit, but also applies to a much wider range of public and regulatory bodies considering the implications AI has across the economy. The Department for Transport works with a number of regulators with responsibility for different modes of travel, from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to the Civil Aviation Authority and Office of Rail and Road. As such, these regulators are responsible for overseeing the application of AI within their elements of the transport system and existing structures. Therefore, regulators do not all distinguish resource dedicated specifically to AI. The Department is working closely with its regulators to ensure new and emerging applications of AI in transport are implemented safely and with effective regulation.

Cycling: Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Mini Holland Feasibility Studies on encouraging Low Traffic Neighbourhoods since that scheme was introduced.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his Department policy to remove Low Traffic Neighbourhoods from the Active Travel Fund 4 Proforma.

Jesse Norman: The Department has commissioned several feasibility studies through its mini-Holland pilot programme. The studies considered a broad range of approaches to improve safety and accessibility of local high streets and surrounding areas to enable higher levels of walking, wheeling and cycling, including area-wide traffic management approaches such as low traffic neighbourhoods. Three mini-Hollands schemes were funded as part of Active Travel Fund 4 following assessment of study material. Responsibility for traffic management on local roads rests with the relevant local authority as they are best placed to consider how local needs can be effectively met. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide on the nature and scope of policies. The Government has been clear that traffic management schemes should always be developed through consultation and engagement with local communities.

Driving Tests

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the bulk purchasing of driving test slots.

Mr Richard Holden: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their car practical driving test. The DVSA has a 24-week forward booking window and tests are not available to book beyond this. As the booking service is live, test appointments can also become available to book through other candidates cancelling, or rescheduling, their test. The DVSA is aware of apps or bots that constantly search its systems for driving test slots. The DVSA does not employ, encourage or licence anyone to provide such a cancellation service checking for newly open slots. These apps or bots are not approved by the DVSA as they make it harder for candidates to get a test and can result in people paying more for a test than the official test fee. Using such services also means that any changes to the test may not necessarily be relayed to the candidate. To ensure its booking system is used correctly, the DVSA has:- stopped accepting new automatic online registrations to use its tests booking service – any new applications must be made by email, where they will be thoroughly checked by the DVSA.- stopped accepting any new registrations from companies who do not directly employ a driving instructor.- removed registrations not linked to driving instructors.- reduced the number of times a driving test appointment can be changed from 10 to the pre-pandemic limit of 6 and updated the test booking service terms and conditions to make it clear that users must not book tests and sell them for profit. Users found breaching the terms and conditions may have their accounts closed. The DVSA is continuing to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. This is having a positive impact. Following recent changes, there has been a significant drop in traffic to these services because the DVSA is successfully identifying and blocking apps or bots. The agency will also continue to inform candidates of the official channels for booking a test. The DVSA has taken measures to encourage learners to use the official booking site on GOV.UK by ensuring that it appears as high as possible on popular search engines and by promoting the official website on social media. As a result of the measures already taken by the DVSA, overall, since April 2021, approximately 900,000 additional car test slots have been created. On average, the DVSA is creating around 37,000 extra car test slots each month.

Public Transport: Climate Change

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the public's access to public transport; and what steps he plans to take to improve that access and reduce the effect of travel on climate change.

Mr Richard Holden: The Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy sets out measures we are taking to assess and improve accessibility to public transport across the network. These commitments are mirrored in Bus Back Better and the Plan for Rail, which will extend accessible public transport to more people across our communities. The Department has also developed the Model of Connectivity to better understand where people are travelling to and how to inform transport planning. Results from this model will be made available for all nations of the UK from later this year.

Road Traffic Control

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of low traffic zones.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Active Travel Fund (tranche 2). As part of this evaluation, there will be an impact evaluation of low traffic neighbourhoods. The evaluation is being conducted in line with the Government’s guidance on evaluation; the Magenta Book. Study design and all materials produced as part of the evaluation are rigorously quality assured by government analysts, to ensure products meet the standards set out above. The evaluation methodology and data collection methods will be subject to independent scrutiny in the form of peer review.

Pedicabs: Vetting

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring pedicab drivers to undergo background checks.

Mr Richard Holden: Government has committed to introducing legislation that would enable Transport for London to regulate London’s pedicab industry, when Parliamentary time allows. Legislation that applies in England outside London permits pedicabs to be licensed as taxis, the decision to do so and any requirements that would apply is a matter for the respective licensing authority in that area.

Roads: Safety

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish the Strategic Framework for Road Safety.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department for Transport is developing the new Road Safety Strategic Framework (RSSF) and it is our intention, subject to wider consultation and agreement, to publish in due course.

Microplastics: Tyres

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to limit microplastic pollution caused by automobile tyres.

Mr Richard Holden: The development of policy to limit emissions from tyre wear depends on the development of an internationally recognised test procedure for measuring them. This issue is being examined by the UN ECE Particle Measurement Programme (PMP), which includes DfT officials, other international governments, and the automotive industry. DfT is one of the founders of PMP and has played a leading role since its inception. To support the work of the UN ECE, the Department commissioned a 4-year research project in February 2021 aimed at understanding better the measurement techniques, material properties and control parameters of brake and tyre wear emissions from road vehicles. The outcomes of the project will inform policy and legislation aiming at reducing these emissions on a domestic and international level. Furthermore, Government is continuing to invest through Innovate UK grants in emerging technologies which reduce non-exhaust emissions.

Railways: Freight

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the rail freight industry on the impact of the use of longer semi-trailers on their businesses.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of (a) longer semi-trailers and (b) freight moved by rail.

Huw Merriman: A strong resilient supply chain is essential to the government’s efforts to grow the economy. We strongly support rail freight playing a key role in that supply chain which is why we are committed to introducing a long-term rail freight growth target and encourage modal shift through the Mode Shift Revenue Support grant. But road haulage is also vital to a strong supply chain and longer semi-trailers will reduce congestion and lower emissions.

Bicycles: Electric Vehicles

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983, what assessment he has made of the impact of the requirement that the electric motors of such cycles must have a maximum power output of 250 watts on the ability of (a) cargo bikes and (b) adaptive disability bikes to operate safely and effectively on (i) hilly and (ii) other terrain.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits  of increasing the maximum power output for electrically assisted pedal cycles used as (a) cargo bikes and (b) adaptive disability bikes while maintaining existing speed limits.

Jesse Norman: The Department is aware that there may be benefits in increasing the continuous rated motor power for Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPC) particularly for e-cargo bikes and bikes adapted for people with disabilities. Any amendments would need to take account of how changes could affect the safety of the rider and other road users, including pedestrians. The Department most recently reviewed the case for amending the current power restrictions as part of the Future of Transport Regulatory Review Call for Evidence published in 2020. The summary of the Call for Evidence is available online, at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-transport-regulatory-review-call-for-evidence-on-micromobility-vehicles-flexible-bus-services-and-mobility-as-a-service. The matter was also considered as part of a call for evidence on last mile deliveries in 2018. The Government’s response to this consultation is available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-last-mile-a-call-for-evidence. The Department will continue to keep the policy under review.

Bicycles: Electric Vehicles

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of encouraging the use of electrically assisted pedal cycles in he final stages of deliveries on the Government’s ability to meet its climate targets.

Jesse Norman: Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles are an important part of the Government’s ambition for active travel, including in relation to the support of last mile deliveries.The Department has previously provided grant funding for organisations and local authorities to purchase e-cargo cycles. A report on the impact of this funding will be published in due course.

Aviation: Electric Vehicles

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with (a) British Airways and (b) other airlines on the potential for electric aviation.

Jesse Norman: The adoption of zero emission flight, including electric aviation, is considered at the Government and industry forum the Jet Zero Council (JZC) including its Zero Emissions Flight Delivery Group. The JZC is co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Transport, Business and Trade and Energy Security and Net Zero with industry members including British Airways. The Government is investing a record £685 million over three years into R&D in the UK aerospace sector through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme. In February the Department for Business and Trade announced £113 million of co-investment with industry in three Rolls-Royce-led projects on hydrogen and Vertical Aerospace work on battery-electric aircraft.

Large Goods Vehicles: Infrastructure

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure the timely implementation of the HGV infrastructure strategy.

Jesse Norman: As committed to in Future of Freight: a long term plan, published in June 2022, the Department is developing a zero emission heavy goods vehicle (HGV) infrastructure strategy, for publication in early 2024. The strategy will draw on the expertise of the Freight Council, the Freight Energy Forum, and industry stakeholders to set strategic direction and outline the respective roles and responsibilities of government and industry. Extensive stakeholder engagement will begin this summer, with the next Freight Energy Forum scheduled for 5 July.

Women and Equalities

Gender: Discrimination

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180207 on Gender and Sexuality and with reference to the letter she received from the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, dated 3 April 2023, whether she plans to hold discussions with organisations that have expertise in the rights of trans people on the implications of that advice for (a) equal pay and (b)(i) direct and (ii) indirect sex discrimination.

Stuart Andrew: The Minister for Women and Equalities sought advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to establish whether the law in its existing format is sufficiently clear in the balance it strikes between the interests of people with different protected characteristics. Having received their response she is now carefully considering it before any decision on how to respond is made. The EHRC itself has highlighted that further policy and legal analysis is required to understand the impact of its advice on various groups and areas, including sex discrimination and equal pay.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Taiwan

Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of the Government of Taiwan in each of the last five years.

Sir John Whittingdale: The UK has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan but a strong, unofficial relationship, based on deep and growing ties in a wide range of areas, underpinned by shared democratic values.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has had a number of discussions with representatives of the Taiwan administration on areas of mutual interest over the last five years.

UK Men's Sheds Association

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the impact of the UK Men's Shed Association on loneliness rates among older men.

Stuart Andrew: Many older men experience loneliness and social isolation. Having strong social relationships play an important role in our physical and mental wellbeing, and there are a number of local voluntary and community sector organisations, such as the UK Men’s Shed Association, that are playing an important role in tackling this.The Government is also taking action to tackle loneliness and social isolation, particularly among older men. This includes investment in our national loneliness campaign, building the loneliness evidence base, and supporting the Tackling Loneliness Hub. In March 2023, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund of up to £30 million, with £19 million of funding from Government, to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England. The fund will run until 2025.

Charities: Hampshire

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to financially support charities in Hampshire who have increased service demand.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to provide financial support to charities in Hampshire in the context of the rise in energy prices.

Stuart Andrew: The Government has taken action to support charities across the country, including in Hampshire, with rising energy prices.The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provided charities and voluntary organisations with support for their energy bills up to 31 March 2023, and they continue to receive support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.As announced in the Spring Budget, the government will also provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk from cost of living pressures, due to increased demand and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency. Work is underway to finalise the delivery time frames and eligibility criteria. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Pesticides: Licensing

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) reinstate the previous and (b) create a new process for parallel permits after the final sale date of existing products on 30 June 2023.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure there will be adequate availability of plant protection products following  the removal of parallel trade permits.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure the affordability of plant protection products when parallel trade permits end.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of parallel permits on the agricultural industry.

Mark Spencer: The parallel trade arrangements set out in EU legislation were based on information sharing between the Member States. Parallel trade permits that were in place when the UK left the EU have been continued for a time. Defra is aware that sales of these parallel products end on 30 June 2023, and the final date for use is 30 June 2024. The Secretary of State is committed to supporting farmers with appropriate use of plant protection products, within the context of securing a thriving, environmentally sustainable farming sector. Defra is aware of farmer concerns about parallel trade permits and, together with the Health and Safety Executive, we are monitoring the situation.

Deep Sea Mining

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her Department's policy to support a ban or moratorium on deep-sea mining in international waters.

Trudy Harrison: Defra works closely with leads across Government to advise on the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining and the provision of effective protection for the marine environment. This includes collaboration with DBT, who are responsible for state sponsorship of UK Seabed Resources’ two exploration contracts, and the FCDO, who lead the UK delegation to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the international organisation through which States Parties organise and control deep-sea mining activities. We recognise the growing pressure to extract deep-sea resources and are deeply concerned about the potential impacts of mining activities on the fragile marine environment. This is why the UK will maintain its precautionary and conditional position of not sponsoring or supporting the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and a strong, enforceable environmental regulatory framework has been developed at the ISA and is in place.

Animals: Exports

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her Department's policy to prohibit the live export of animals for slaughter or fattening.

Mark Spencer: We remain committed to ending the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter. There have not been any live exports for fattening or slaughter since 2020 and we want to make this permanent.

Department for Business and Trade

Metals: Recycling

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the metals recycling sector on (a) potential barriers to the sector reaching net zero, (b) support for the sector to reach net zero and (c) the potential impact of the sector on the ability of other parts of the economy to reach net zero.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Business and Trade has regular contact with the metals recycling sector and they have raised electrification of sites and access to hydrogen networks as potential barriers. The Government’s Electricity Networks Strategic Framework sets out a vision for the transformation of the electricity network, and the Government aims to respond to its consultation on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure later this year. To support decarbonisation, the sector can apply to the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the Programme of Research and Innovation for the UK Steel and Metals sector, and the SUSTAIN Future Manufacturing Research Hub. Metals recycling will play an important role in helping the domestic aluminium and steel sectors deliver net zero production, through the delivery of reduced residual scrap as a key feedstock.

Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181548 on Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups, if she will provide instances in which ethnicity pay gap reporting may be inappropriate for tackling disparities in employment.

Kevin Hollinrake: In April 2023 the Government published guidance to employers on voluntary ethnicity pay reporting. As the guidance explains, ethnicity pay reporting is a complex measure and can be affected by many factors meaning it is easy for the data to be misinterpreted or misunderstood. One reason for this is that, while gender pay analysis involves a comparison between two groups, ethnicity pay analysis can potentially involve many more ethnic groups. Additionally, employers may also have to decide how to best combine different ethnic groups to ensure both reliable results and protect confidentiality.

New Businesses: Closures

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of start up businesses closed in the UK in the last five years.

Kevin Hollinrake: Of the 1,800,000 businesses that were set up over the five years from 2016 to 2020, 39% had closed by 2021. (ONS, Business Demography, 2022)

Batteries: Research

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support research-intensive companies in the battery sector.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Last year we announced a record £211m funding uplift for the Faraday Battery Challenge, which began in 2017 and supports world-class scientific technology development and manufacturing scale-up capability for batteries in the UK. This new funding brings the overall budget for the Challenge to £541m.Projects funded so far are improving the lifespan, range, and charging rate of batteries, as well as battery reuse, remanufacture and recycling.

New Businesses: Closures

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of start up businesses in the creative industries closed in the UK in the last five years.

Kevin Hollinrake: Of the 14,500 businesses in the ‘Creative, arts and entertainment activities’ sector that were set up over the five years from 2016 to 2020, 32% had closed by 2021. (ONS, Business Demography, 2022)

Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.

Kevin Hollinrake: This Government remains committed to tackling all areas of disparities in this country, including in employment. Ethnicity pay gap reporting is just one type of tool to assist employers in doing this and it may not always be the most appropriate mechanism for some types of organisations. Therefore, as set out in the “Inclusive Britain” report, which was published in March 2022, the Government will not be legislating to make ethnicity pay reporting mandatory at this stage. Government published guidance in April 2023 to support employers who wish to report voluntarily.